


The Horrors in Hawkins

by I_dunno



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: BAMF Laurie Strode, Completed, Freddy Krueger is his own content warning, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Steve and his Emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:14:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 41,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25473706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_dunno/pseuds/I_dunno
Summary: El creates a portal to rescue Steve and Nancy from the realm of the Entity. But survivors aren't the only ones who can use that portal.
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Laurie Strode
Comments: 116
Kudos: 48





	1. Camaraderie

**Author's Note:**

> This is the beginning of my Stranger Things-Dead by Daylight crossover fic! This fic assumes you have watched Stranger Things at least through the first two seasons. It takes place before season 3 but after season 2. 
> 
> So if you're here from the DbD Fandom and haven't seen Stranger Things, do yourself a favor and go watch it. 
> 
> If you're from the ST Fandom and don't know what Dead by Daylight is, it's basically a video game where this extra-dimensional creature called the Entity endlessly makes survivors try to escape killers so it can feed on their hope. You don't need to know a lot about DbD to understand this; the survivors get brief introductions this chapter, and we'll be focusing more on the DbD characters next chapter.

It had been a week. A week since Steve and Nancy had disappeared. They were adults, El knew, but it wasn’t like them to disappear without any warning or even so much as a note. And the fact that they vanished on the same night did not assuage anyone’s fears.

El knew they were alive, she could feel them. She had tried to find them with her powers when people first started getting worried. But although she could feel them, she couldn’t feel where. But she could feel something pushing back, and she didn’t have the power to break through it. She didn’t need to tell anyone that last part yet, she thought. It would just worry them and there was nothing they could do about it. And how would she even go about telling them?

But when Jim asked her to help him get into and search Steve’s house, she went with. She didn’t expect to find anything, but she figured it was better she telekinetically unlocked Steve’s door rather than letting Jim break it down.

It was only Jim and El searching the house. Most of the town, including the rest of the police department (and, El suspected, Jonathan) thought they had skipped town together. And the first clue they found didn’t put that theory to rest- Steve’s car wasn’t in the garage.

But they almost missed the second clue. They probably would have if the electric company hadn’t called about a missed bill while they were there. But after Jim explained the situation and hung up the phone, his eyes landed on Steve’s answering machine. On a hunch, he started listening to the messages on it. The latest ones were from the water and gas companies, with similar complaints to the electric company. Before that there were worried calls from Jim, Joyce, the Party, and even Jonathan. But the earliest message made both of their blood run cold. The voice was distorted but Jim and El could definitely hear a female voice saying “Hello? This is Nancy Wheeler. I’m at Hawkins National Laboratory. If anyone is hearing this, please-” before the message became unintelligible under the static.

Doc Owens swiped his badge and the gates of Hawkins National Laboratory slowly swung open. He leaned back into his car and a small caravan followed him in. The plan had been for him and Jim to search the facility alone. But then El had piped up, saying she might be able to sense things they couldn’t. Fair enough. But then Johnathan wanted to help. And Joyce wasn’t letting him go without her. But that meant Will insisted on coming too. And Owens couldn’t really begrudge Mike wanting to help look for his sister. And with half of the party going, Dustin, Lucas, and Max decided they were going too, citing Steve’s status as their babysitter as giving them a degree of responsibility for him. Owens was pretty sure that wasn’t how babysitting was supposed to work, but what the hell did he know? So that’s how he ended up driving Jim, Joyce, Jonathan, and the Party back into Hawkins National Laboratory.

They split up to search in pairs. Mike and El had wanted to search together but Jim quickly put that idea to rest. He trusted them not to sneak off and- oh who was he kidding. Jim absolutely did not trust them not to sneak off and make out. So Jim and Mike were searching together in horribly awkward silence when they saw two objects on the ground: Nancy’s notebook and Steve’s nail-studded baseball bat.

Everyone had gathered around the ominous items and was contemplating them when El asked “Can you get the deprivation tanks working?”

Everyone turned to stare at her for a second before Owens said “I don’t think they ever emptied out the salt water reservoir, and the helmet should be upstairs. But why-”

“They’re closer here.” El stated. “Go.”

Everyone jumped into action, Owens sending the kids upstairs to look for a clear plastic diving helmet before taking Jonathan with him to turn on the water pumps. El sat down on the edge of one of the tanks, dangling her feet over the edge, and Jim and Joyce sat down next to her. 

“What’s going on, kiddo?” asked Jim. “I thought you couldn’t find them?”

“I could feel them, but something was blocking me. But they left here. And the tank… I hate it but it does help. And I’ll do it for them.”

“What was blocking you? Was it the Mindflayer?” asked Joyce.

“No… it was similar, but different. It was more… limited. But much stronger within those limits? It has rules. Boundaries.”

That did not set either of the adults’ minds at ease as Owens and Jonathan came back and started pulling a thick hose from the wall. Dustin came back brandishing the helmet like he had won the Stanley Cup, and soon El found herself getting ready to go back into the tank. She gave Mike a quick kiss on the cheek for luck before Jim could object, and then she was being lowered into the sensory deprivation tank.

Nancy hated it in the realm of the Entity. Nobody liked it here, of course, but the helplessness of the situation continually grated on her nerves. Having her memory erased, being plopped into a trial, and running for her life before returning to the campfire one way or another. And nothing. Ever. Changed. 

She had no idea how long she’d been here. How many hundreds or thousands of trials she’d endured. How many times she’d died. How many times she’d seen her comrades die in front of her. And God, there was just no escape. No escape. No-

“Nancy. Can you hear me?”

Nancy’s head snapped up. “El?”

Everyone else around the campfire turned to look at Nancy, going completely quiet. Steve and Nancy had told the others about their lives and adventures in Hawkins. They knew of the quiet girl with the uncanny powers.

“It’s me Nancy! I’m going to get you out of there. You and Steve. Just hold on.”

“There are others.” whispered Nancy “Please help us.”

For a moment there was silence. Then the air above the campfire began to shimmer.

Owens had seen the footage of when El opened the portal to the Upside Down, and this was nothing like that. The first portal had made the wall crumble and shake. But now the wall in front of them was rippling like a pond someone threw a pebble in. And then the wall just opened. There were no tentacles or vines or whatever the Upside Down tendrils were. The edge of the portal was a bright, burning orange with strange geometric patterns folding and unfolding as the portal widened. El yanked the cord they had lowered in with her for her to signal when to bring her up. As she was raised out of the tank the edges of the portal changed from that crackling orange to some black substances that looked like an unholy combination of wood and chitin that hurt Owens’ brain just to look at. Everyone else was crowding around El as she took the helmet off, worrying about the blood gushing from her nose and ears from the effort of opening this portal. Only Owens watched as Steve Harrington hopped through the portal, casual as you please, and said “Hey shitheads, long time no see!”

Nancy wasn’t kidding when she said there were others, El thought. All told, around 20 people came through that portal. Not knowing where else to take everyone, Jim had let them into the Hawkins High School gymnasium. El had a psychically induced migraine/hangover thingy (a psygraine, she thought with a smile) but had listened as Steve, Nancy, and the other ‘survivors’ told their story. It was curious, the most outlandish parts of the story weren’t the extradimensional horror or the psychotic killers, it was the inconsistencies in their timelines and worlds. Apparently, El was technically older than a number of the survivors, who disappeared from across nearly half a century, from Laurie Strode in the 1970s to Yui Kimura in the 2020s.

That was the other thing. They had discovered that, Steve and Nancy excepted, they were all from different universes. Some of the differences were massive- apparently the old guy they called Bill had fought off honest to goodness zombies- but others were subtle. Apparently Dwight and Meg had had a massive argument about whether the third president of the United States was Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton and they had both been right in their own worlds.

And apparently movies and stories had eerie similarities to other dimensions. El had watched  _ Halloween _ yet there was Laurie Strode. El briefly wondered if other dimensions had stories about her before turning to listen as proper introductions began.

Steve decided to take the lead on introductions as one of the two people who already knew everyone. Besides, Nancy, was having a tearful reunion with her brother and her boyfriend and Steve knew he could be an insensitive ass, but he wasn’t enough of an insensitive ass to try and interrupt that.

“Okay, lemme try and get everybody introduced real quick. Give everyone a quick wave or something when I say your name. Christ I’m such a lame babysitter.”

“Nah, we love you Steve. You beat the shit out of Billy! Almost.”

“Alright, that little twerp is Dustin. All the kids are evil but he’s the worst.” Said Steve with a wink. “The girl with the bloody nose is El, I can’t even give her any shit right now because I’d bet she’s why we’re out of that place. The loser holding her hand is Mike” (this earned a glare from Mike as he wrapped a protective arm around El’s shoulder) “next to Mike is Lucas, the redhead is Maxine, or just Max if you like your nose unbroken, and the shortest shorty is Will.” Will giggled and flipped off Steve, which Steve returned with an eye roll.

“The dude necking Nancy is Jonathan, I’d tell them to knock it off but I think she’s earned this. The woman glaring at him for making a scene is Joyce, Will and Jonathan’s mom, and the guy glaring at Mike is Chief Hopper, El’s adoptive father. And that guy with the cane is Doc Owens, apparently he was a bigwig at the lab before they shut it down.”

Steve turned to the assembled survivors. “Alrighty, from the other side of the portal, first we got Dwight Fairfield, our dear leader.” Dwight blushed and looked down at his crumpled, bloodstained dress shirt and loosened tie while fiddling with his glasses. “Here we have the lovely Meg Thomas, Ms Zero-to-Sixty herself.” the athletic redhead smiled and waved at the residents of Hawkins before Steve continued. “That’s Claudette Morel, botanist extraordinaire. Jake Park, the strong, silent, saboteur.” Jake rolled his eyes even as a touch of red crept into his cheeks. “Nea Karlsson, resident troublemaker (“Hey!” shouted Nea), David King, our British Brawler. Laurie Strode, possibly the most dangerous woman in this room. And apparently El has killed people with her mind. Ace Visconti, either the luckiest man alive or the smoothest cheater (another “Hey!” from Ace this time), Feng Min- or Min Feng? Or-”

“Feng Min, but in China the family name comes first, so just call me Min.” said Min in a tone that indicates she’s said that line before and knows she’ll do it again.

“Right, Feng Min but just Min. She apparently played video games for a living so I’m sure the kids will have a billion questions. (the Party looked awestruck. Min looked mortified.) The perpetual smoker is Bill Overbeck, veteran of Vietnam and Zombie-nam. Quentin Smith, who swears he doesn’t normally look like that but was avoiding a dream demon. (Quentin lazily flips off Steve while laying on one of the bleachers in the gym) Detective Tapp, who was actually glad to be abducted since it meant he got to leave New Jersey.”

“Hey!” said Tapp.

“Glass houses, Harrington.” warned Laurie. “Everyone knows Indiana is the New Jersey of the Midwest.”

“Hey!” said the various Hawkins residents.

“Anyways, the blonde lady over there is Kate Denson, apparently a hit country singer in her world. The guy with the trench coat is Adam Francis, he’s a terrifying combination of smart, strong, and ballsy as hell. That guy is Jeff, he’s our other Canadian and from the way he described it likes even weirder music than the Byers boys. Jane Romero, another celebrity in her own world. Ash Williams, I have no idea how many of the stories he’s told are true but he does have a metal hand, so take that as you will. Yui Kimura is a street racer and, as far as we’ve been able to tell, from the farthest in the future. Zarrina Kassir is a film maker slash journalist and maybe Nancy’s rival? And Cheryl is just… Cheryl. And she’s amazing. Now let’s figure out what we’re gonna do for the night. I think we all need a shower right now.”

In the end, Steve let a lot of the survivors crash at his place, and everyone else slept at the police station or the hotel.

If anyone had still been in the laboratory as night fell on Hawkins, they would have heard a horrific, unearthly noise come through the portal El had opened. To the hunters, killers, and monsters on the other side of the portal, it was recognizable as the voice of the Entity. “You know your targets.” it hissed. “Find them. Bring them back. And whoever kills the girl will be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: I was going through this and noticed that my descriptions of where the survivors went didn’t match what happens in the story XD so I fixed that in the penultimate paragraph.


	2. Object of Obsession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The killers reflect on their assignments

Dwight Fairfield. Meg Thomas. Of course he got assigned two targets to capture. Just his luck. And two of the most experienced, too. He recognized them immediately when the Entity pressed their names and images into his brain. The jittery pencil pusher and the hot r- and the  _ fast _ redhead.

The Trapper sighed as he sat on the catwalk over the ironworks, legs dangling from the edge. Maybe it was a bit of a juvenile pose, but no one was around to see it, and even if they were, who would be stupid enough to give him shit about it? He glanced down at the metal cleaver and the grinning mask he had set down beside him. Those were his tools when he went to terrorize union agitators for his father, and they were his tools when he killed for the Entity. When the mask was off, he was Evan MacMillan, honest and hardworking, albeit a little gruff and prickly. When the mask was on, he hurt people. He followed orders. He slashed, smashed, and snapped. He was the Trapper.

He’d had a lot of time to think during his time as one of the Entity’s killers. He’d had nothing better to do than some introspection, and he didn’t like what he saw. He knew he was a coward, bowing down to people he knew were bad. His father. The Entity. What does being strong enough to tear apart a miner in the prime of his life using his bear hands matter when he can’t stand up to a senile old man?

At first, Evan had told himself the Survivors must deserve it. Just like those union leeches. But as time went on and he saw the Survivors die to save each other, die for a  _ chance _ to save each other, or beg him for mercy when they knew they were doomed. And he came to realize they were like the union organizers he killed, not in that they deserved it, but in that they didn’t.

But Evan knew that no matter how much he hemmed and hawed, he would cave to the Entity. Just like he always did.

At least having two targets would give him a plausible excuse to be too busy to kill the girl. He is glad about that. Evan has never killed a child, and he would really prefer not to start now.

Claudette Morel. Philip chokes back a sob as the name and image is burned into his mind. Not her. She’s so small, and kind. He’s seen the way she takes care of the other survivors during the trials. And there’s another girl he should try to kill?

No. He will not do this. He is not the Wraith. He is Philip Ojomo. He will not hurt the survivors, not in the real world. He cannot make up for the pain he has caused. But he has a chance to try. A chance to make a difference. And he will make a difference or die trying. He is not a puppet or a tool, not anymore.

The Hillbilly doesn’t know what the sounds the Entity tells them mean. But they recognize the face. They know what they’re supposed to do. They’ll do that. And then maybe they’ll be free? They’re not sure what they want. But the Thing says it will be good to do what it says. So they’ll bring back the one who fiddles with their hooks and kill the other one the Thing showed it.

The Nurse receives the name of her next patient, Ms Nea Karlsson. To be brought in for treatment. And if she sees this other girl, she is to put her to sleep. The Nurse nods to herself. She can do this. She has to do this. For them. For  _ him. _

Anna has never been told to hunt a specific beast. But now she is supposed to catch something called David King. She recognizes it. She’s captured it, killed it before. But then Big-Tree-Spider-Sky tells her to kill a daughter. Anna hasn’t had a daughter in so long. Anna will not kill a daughter. She’ll take the David King back to Big-Tree-Spider-Sky and she will take the daughter for herself. Anna can’t wait!

He knows he isn’t supposed to kill her. That’s not what the Big Voice said. But all the Little Voices have said to kill her for so long. Kill her for good. He’s never been able to. But he knows now is different. And the Little Voices say once he kills her they will be quiet. That would be good. The Big Voice is usually quiet anyways. 

It also said to kill another girl. He doesn’t care. He’s never cared much about what the Big Voice says. If he kills this other girl, fine. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t care.

The Hag is hungry. But there will be more meat soon. Lots and lots of meat. So hungry. Just has to bring back the one and kill the other. The other looks young, much more tender than the meat she’s been eating for so long. Soon she will eat.

Ugh. Another assignment. At least it’s something new. Capture the Asian girl who always wears neon. Feng Min, he reminds himself, he’ll have to update and review his notes on her later. It will be so satisfying to put a name next to the number. Number Nine, Feng Min. The Doctor laughs. Maybe if he’s able to kill the other girl he can finally start on some  _ real _ research. The Entity, the CIA, they’re really the same. Always giving him the resources, but never giving him the permission.

Bubba has a new job now. He’ll take back the old man with the cigarette and kill the little girl. He’ll prove himself. He’s failed before, but he can do it this time. He has to.

Freddy Krueger smiles to himself. Bring back Quentin. Kill the girl. Easy. But before he does that, there’s a few people he’ll have to pay a visit to back in Ohio. And maybe he can have some fun with the girl before he kills her. Yes, he think, it’s Freddy’s lucky day.

Amanda grins underneath the perpetually rotting pig head she wears as a mask. Bring back the detective. Kill the girl. She can do that. She’s dreamt up so many games between trials. The only question is which one this girl will play.

Jeffery Hawk takes a moment to cough as he carefully applies the clown makeup to his face. He knows what his job is. He’ll have fun doing it. But before that The Clown intends to have a night on the town.

Rin Yamaoka has one goal: revenge. She will kill her father. The Entity says she needs to bring back Adam and kill this girl in order to do that. So that is exactly what she will do. She looks down at the glass buried in her arms, the gashes in her limbs and torso, and her blue, dead, skin. She used to be beautiful. Just another thing her father took from her. The anger bubbles inside her. Good, she thinks, it will fuel her.

“Guys, let’s talk about this” says Joey as he and the other members of the Legion receive their instructions.

“What is there to talk about, Joey? You know how things work here. That thing says jump, we say how high?” replies Julie.

“Yeah, but like, we’re going out there, not here. We’re going home, or at least out of here. That means the killing is real. And you know how I feel about killing the janitor-”

“Actually I don’t.” Susie interrupts. “I always figured you and Frank were too macho to talk about feelings and shit.”

“Wait, you- I guess we never did talk about it. For the record, I get protect your girl, Frank, but I think killing him was overboard. But I also know that it doesn’t matter right now. I’m not comfortable going into the real world and killing a little girl for no reason.”

“But we do have a reason! The Entity said to!” replies Frank.

“Frank, do you remember the first time we smoked pot? And I said I didn’t want to because of my parents? And you said-”

“Alright, alright, I get it. How about this: you don’t bitch about bringing back Jeff the Elder, and we’ll leave the girl alone. Deal?”

Joey thought for a moment. “Deal.” he agreed. “But I still think it’s weird that our Jeff and their Jeff-”

“Oh my god, I am not listening to you two have this argument again.” moans Julie from where she was sprawled out on the couch. “C’mon Frank, let’s go fuck or something.”

The Plague reflects on her orders as she meditates in her temple. Bring back Jane Romero, sacrifice the child, and her city shall be safe. She mourns that a child must die. But her first duty is to protect the city. And if she must kill this child to do so, then so be it.

Danny Johnson is practically squealing with delight. Killing for the Entity has its own joy, of course, but he missed the thrill of truly stalking a victim. Choosing a target. Following them. Learning about them. And then paying them a visit they won’t walk away from. He’s never killed a child before, there’s no challenge in it. And he’s never been the kidnapping type either. But he’s got to kill this kid and kidnap this man. It should be fun!

The New Master has different instructions. The New Master is sending them into the Hot World. They have three targets. One must be captured, one must be killed, and one should be killed if they can. But the third one has killed one of their kind before, one serving the Old Master. Two is plenty, they think.

Kazan sits in the dilapidated shrine and asks his ancestors for strength. The Dark Spirit in the Sky has never asked him to do anything dishonorable before. But now, not only has it ordered him to capture a despicable false samurai rather than kill her outright, it has also asked him to kill a child!

Kazan knows a true samurai would loyally follow an evil master. But he also knows evil is not the same thing as dishonorable. He will go out and slay the devils and imposters. But not the children. Never the children.

Caleb spits a wad of tobacco at a passing tumbleweed. He’s got two bounties to collect. One dead, one alive. One young, one younger. Caleb wonders for a moment if his current employer will betray him too. Like Bayshore and the Warden did. Caleb snorts. He doesn’t know if this devil will be more trustworthy than Bayshore or the Warden. But if it isn’t, it will regret it. Just like Bayshore and the Warden.

He receives his instructions. One must be returned to her torment. Another who is too powerful to let live. He will find them, and he will do what needs to be done. He is the judge and jury. He is the Executioner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I gotta ask my dear readers a question because I have two ways I could do the rest of the fic. I could either have the Entity send the killers out one at a time or all at once. One at a time would mean more focused chapters, one per killer at least. All at once would have a much more chaotic feel as everyone is moving around at once. And it would probably take me longer to get chapters out (definitely chapter 3, at least) since I would have to do much more detailed story planning. If you have a preference either way, tell me in the comments. If your preference is that writer stops wasting her time on massive end notes and gets back to the story, tell me that in the comments too!


	3. Solidarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve chats with the party the day after the Survivors are rescued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I had the writing spirit hit me before I got any replies to my question from last chapter, so this one is a bit lighter, just Steve having a chat with his nerds. 
> 
> But after this chapter, shit is gonna start for real. I'm starting my spreadsheet to plan out how the rest of this story is going to go. It might take me a while since with 23 killers (4 Legion members after all) 22 survivors and 10 characters from Hawkins, I have to juggle 55 characters and and make sure they all get some screen time, lest I provoke any corners of either fandom particularly loyal to any character (looking at you, Pig mains).

Steve was glad he and Nancy were both able to take the day off after they returned. If he had to put up with any obnoxious tweens after what felt like months or years of torture, he would just snap.

So that’s why he’s in the Wheeler’s basement, reuniting with his favorite obnoxious  _ teens _ . 

He would never admit it but the little shitheads were actually really sweet about it. He knew it had only been a week for them but he felt like he had aged years and Dustin informing him he was going to receive a hug, no buts, was… it was nice.

He was sitting at their table, bat leaning in the corner (it made him feel secure and it’s a lot more manly than a blanket so fuck off) and the Party was gathered around him. “Listen up twerps, here’s the rules: I know you’re probably bursting with questions about where Nancy and I were, and I’ll answer them since you little monsters will probably overwhelm anyone else. But no asking personal questions about any of the other survivors, it’s their business what they’re willing to tell you. And if I decide I’m not telling you something, don’t push it. I don’t think you can ever be old enough to understand all the horrors of that place. I wasn’t. And you six definitely aren’t. Got it?”

The kids nodded somberly. Dustin was, unsurprisingly the first person to ask a question. But it definitely wasn’t what Steve was expecting.

“Are you okay? Like, mentally?” 

Steve sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Honestly? No. No I’m not. I won’t even try to deny it. I died in there hundreds of times. I saw people die in front of me. People I care about. I saw- well, yeah, no, I’m not okay. But we survivors, well, we survive. Got some of the same shared trauma shit you guys do. We’re there for each other.”

“So does that mean you’re gonna start dating Nancy again since you have more shared trauma than her and Jonathan?”

Steve gave Lucas a look at the exact same time Max, Mike, and Will did. “No! That’s not- that’s not how it works, okay? Jesus, remind me to give you gents the condensed version of Jane’s lecture about how to not make the stupid assumptions most guys make. You might learn a thing or two. Christ Lucas, just ask me about the fucking monsters or something. God, I did not come here to talk about my love life. I don’t even wanna think about my love life.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. Tell us about the monsters, Steve.” said Max patronizingly.

“Yeah, please, anything other than making me think about my sister’s romantic interests.” added Mike.

“Okay, so there was a total of… I think a round 20 sons and daughters of bitches we had to run from. Ask Nancy for her notes when she’s not off sucking face with Jonathan. (Will and Mike both made faces at this) Anyways, they were all assholes, although some were more assholy than others. There was the Trapper, fuckin’ eight feet tall and could snap your brother like a twig, but he also used bear traps.” Steve said with a nod at Max.

“Wait wait wait” interrupted Dustin “If he could easily beat Billy and Billy could easily you how did you stand a chance?”

“Okay, first of all, Billy did not beat me easily. He beat me, yeah, but I got in some hits too. Second, there were… I dunno, rules in the trials. They usually had to follow the steps of the sacrifice ritual, which gives you some time. There are other rules too. They had to wipe their blade or pause or something after they hit us. And no climbing.”

“What was the sacrifice ritual?” asked Mike.

“They would… you know what, I’m going to invoke my second rule for that. We’re not going into details, but it was kind of a three strikes system? The first two times the killer gets you you can get saved by your friends. But after that, you’re done.” Steve said with a shiver. “Also, new rule, if I decide not to tell you something you’re not allowed to go asking any of the other survivors.”

“Who were the others?” asked El.

“The other killers? Well, there was the Wraith, could ring a bell and turn invisible, but he couldn’t do anything while invisible and had to ring it again to get visible so he was a bit of a pushover. The Hillbilly… he just ran fast and had a chainsaw. Fucking terrifying. The Nurse could teleport, and had a little telekinesis on the side. I don’t think it was as strong as El’s though. The Huntress was this weird lady in a bunny mask who threw hatchets and sang a lot. Michael Myers… I still can’t believe fucking Michael Myers is real… but he was just really unpredictable. Sometimes he was easy. Sometimes he broke even the Entity’s rules. The Hag drew these weird symbols that acted as traps so she could surprise you. The Doctor would use electricity to screw with your head. The Cannibal was another guy with a chainsaw. Basically the Hillbilly but he sucks. Freddy Krueger, the Nightmare… I’m invoking rule two on him. He messed with your dreams, that’s all I’m gonna say. The Pig was sneaky and made you do this horrible boxes to get these traps off your head, but not too bad aside from the blatant sadism. The Clown was a fat fuck who threw bottles of gas at you to drug you. The Spirit could just like, go still and then appear behind you. The Legion was just a bunch of teens with knives. The Plague was fucking gross, she’d barf on you.”

“Jesus Steve, you are such a boy!” said Max.

“I’m not making this up, ask any of the survivors, they’ll tell you how fucked up the Plague was. Anyways, Ghostface was another sneaky bastard, the Oni was just one of those Japanese warriors but used blood to go fast as fuck, the Deathslinger shot you with a speargun, and Pyramid Head did some weird-ass thing with trenches and barbed wire. And there was a Demogorgon.”

The Party looked at Steve in shock for a second before Dustin shouted “YOU FOUGHT ANOTHER DEMOGORGON!?!?”

Steve shushed Dustin and the other questions the others were shouting at him . “Guys, keep it down or Mrs Wheeler will kick me out! And to answer your question Dustin, I didn’t fight another Demogorgon, at best I dropped wooden pallets on its head and tricked it into ramming into walls.”

“You say that like it’s no big deal!” exclaimed Lucas.

“I mean, all the survivors did it to all the killers. You wanna see badass, look at Laurie. I shit you not, the killers were afraid of her. Hell, I’m afraid of her and we’ve saved each others lives a bunch of times.”

“Ooh, does Stevie have a crush?” asked Max teasingly.

“Pssh, no, that was one of the ground rules for the survivors, no dating each other, nothing like that. ‘Cuz if it went south it would make everything awkward. Like, what if Mike and El broke up?”

At this Mike and El blushed, while the latter leaned her head on the former’s shoulder.

“Jesus Christ I’m gonna need to get a spray bottle. I forgot how nauseating you two are.”

“I bet that’s what the Plague thought of when she barfed on you!” said Lucas with a smirk.

“Hey, glass houses Lucas! Don’t think I haven’t seen you and Max making eyes at each other!” replied Mike.

“Jesus, I forgot what middle schoolers are like.”

“Hey, we’re gonna be freshmen!” said Will.

“Oh-ho, as if that’s any better. Freshmen are just middle schoolers who think they’re hot shit because they’re in high school. Now if you’ll excuse me all the survivors are meeting with the Chief to figure out what’s next for them. Will, Dustin, you shits are in charge of making sure nobody gets pregnant. Adios, amigos!” said Steve while he grabbed his bat to a chorus of “ew!”s. 

At noon on June 28th, the Party was eating sandwiches in Karen Wheeler’s kitchen. The Survivors were sitting in the park in Downtown Hawkins, enjoying the sunlight and discussing their futures with Chief Hopper and Joyce and Jonathan Byers. And from a portal inside of Hawkins National Laboratory emerged over twenty killers with orders to bring back the Survivors and kill El Hopper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed a moment of relaxation with Steve before shit hits the fan! Now, to the spreadsheets! 55 characters... what have I gotten myself into?
> 
> As always, please leave comments! They are what fuels me to keep writing!


	4. Metal of Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two bloodhounds find who they're looking for, albeit with very different intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now I let slip the dogs of war.

“Welcome to Casa Harrington!” said Steve as he opened his front door with a flourish. Nea, David, Quentin, Jeff, Ash, and Yui had accepted his offer to let them stay for the night, preferring it to staying at the hotel or sleeping over at the police station. Steve had to admit to himself that he  _ was _ a little disappointed Laurie had chosen to stay at the hotel, but if he was being honest with himself it’s not like he had a chance of sleeping with her tonight. It’s not like he has a chance with her, period. For the first time in his life, Steve Harrington was fairly certain the girl he liked was out of his league.

The afternoon’s meeting at the park had ended with dinner from McDonalds, which wasn’t the healthiest or the fanciest, but it was cheap, and after an eternity in the Realms french fries tasted heavenly. Afterwards, everyone departed for their separate sleeping arrangements, eager for a proper night of sleep.

Steve set to work figuring out sleeping arrangements. He put Nea and Yui in his parents bedroom- not like either of them ever used it anymore- and put Ash and Jeff in the guest room. David offered to take the couch, so Steve figured he’d be sharing his bed with Quentin tonight.

He dug out some of his clothes for the male survivors to change into- theirs were covered in blood and had attracted a lot of strange looks- while he simply gave the girls carte blanche over his mother’s wardrobe. The worst she’d do is ground him, and it’s not like she would be around to enforce it. His clothes were a little tight on Jeff and Ash and not really anybody else’s style, but it was better to wear something ill-fitting (and according to Quentin, devastatingly eighties-ish) than spend another moment covered in blood. He put all their dirty clothes in a heap in the laundry room, deciding to take care of it tomorrow and take a nice, hot shower now.

The Wraith quietly slid open the door to The Red Hawk, the one and only hotel of Hawkins. There was nobody at the desk this late, and he was invisible after all, so it was no trouble for him to sneak a look at the guest registry. He had seen a number of survivors enter the hotel. Not Claudette, but he didn’t need her specifically, just one who would listen to him. His best bet was the Middle Eastern woman, he thought. He had seen her with a tape recorder fairly often, so he assumed she was some sort of journalist. And sometimes journalists had to listen to bad people. Like himself.

The Wraith frowned at the registry as he realized Claudette was the only one he knew by name. The only people who had checked in today were Jake Park, Laurie Strode, Feng Min, Kate Denson, Jane Romero, Zarina Kassir, Cheryl Mason, and Danny Johnson. He was about to randomly pick a room and hope its occupant would listen to him when he realized he could probably figure out their ethnicities based on their names. Jake obviously wasn’t who he was looking for, it was a man’s name, and he was pretty sure Park was Korean? Laurie Strode could be it, but sounded pretty white. She’d be the backup plan. Feng Min sounded East Asian. Kate Denson was in the same basket as Strode. Romero sounded Latin American, and- Kassir. Zarina Kassir must be the reporter. He slid his finger across the page to her room number. 105.

The Demogorgon prowled the Upside Down parallel to the Hot World. They could sense three places in Hawkins with high concentrations of blood. Not fresh blood, but that made sense. The Hot Worlders covered themselves in cloth most of the time, and the cloth that all the New Master’s prey hid behind was soaked with thousands of trials worth of blood. So, three places to go. They didn’t know which one their targets might be at. But one location had softer walls between dimensions. It was like a scab on reality. Something must have happened there. Perhaps an ancient portal of the magnitude the girl made, or a temporary portal more recently. No sense in not taking the portal of least resistance. The Demogorgon turned towards the residential area of Hawkins, not that they knew what that was.

Zarina was very worried. She had been from the moment she opened her hotel door to see the Wraith with a finger over his lips. Zarina, not being stupid, had drawn in a breath to scream. The Wraith had slapped a hand over her mouth before pushing inside her room and closing the door behind him. It didn’t put her at ease that she was only wearing a bathrobe (Steve wasn’t the only one who wanted a shower) but the Wraith had sworn he meant no harm and asked her to just listen to him. Zarina didn’t believe him, but it was true that the Wraith had come unarmed, and he probably could have snapped her neck when he was shushing her, so she sighed, grabbed the hotel stationary for note taking, and said “Well? Let’s hear it.”

Zarina made the following notes:

  * All the killers are out and supposed to 
    * Kidnap one survivor
    * Kill the psychic girl who rescued them
  * The killers are “unrestrained”
  * If you look past him being 7’2 and having a lot of skin look like tree bark, the Wraith is actually a big softie
  * He doesn’t like being called the Wraith, his name is Philip Ojomo



“Okay, I’ve got a few questions” said Zarina once Philip was done talking. “First, what do you mean that the killers are unrestrained? Second why are you telling me this? Third, why are you telling  _ me  _ this?”

Philip sighed. “I’m sure you survivors have noticed how in the Realms there were certain rules the killers had to follow. There were general rules, like pausing after hits, no killing in person without permission, no climbing or moving parts of the environment that weren’t meant to be moved. Those rules are gone. And I, for one, had limitations in there that do not apply out here. I do not know if my senses were dulled in there or sharpened out here, but I can smell the cleaning supplies from their closet. I can tell the doorknob to your bathroom had blood spilled on it, maybe a month or two ago? And I can see in the dark better than you could see in the day. Although I think most of us killers prefer the dark. So do not assume that killers will operate the same way as they did in the Realms. I have noticed that I have perfect invisibility at all times, not just when standing still. And I have been able to use as many symbols to augment my bell as will fit, including ones I have never used in the realms.”

“As for why tell you, as I said, I feel great regret for what I did in the Realms and outside them, and I will do what I can to atone for my sins. Before I was the Wraith, I was used to unknowingly kill a lot of people. When I discovered this I killed the man who had manipulated me in a fit of rage. I should have gone to the police, although in retrospect I doubt Azarov would have let me leave the junkyard alive once I knew that I crushed more than just cars.”

“Wait, to Autohaven, you worked there? And now it’s used for trials?” asked Zarina.

“Yes, but a recreation of Autohaven is used, not the actual junkyard. Anyway, as for why I told you specifically, I had been staking out the hotel under the assumption that’s where most survivors would stay, if not all. Evidently only some of you did, and of the survivors I saw enter, you seemed the most likely to listen to what I had to say.”

“Oh shit.” Zarina said suddenly. “If you’re right, everyone is in a lot of danger right now. The whole town is. Shit. I’m gonna go wake up the others, you wait in the lobby, I’ll make sure they don’t deck you.”

The Demogorgon emerged from a temporary portal on the side of the Harringtons’ washing machine. The tip of their head-mouth opened a bit as it sniffed the air, as much as Demogorgons can sniff without a nose. There was a pile of bloody laundry in a basket. They sent out their first echolocation clicks, too high for humans to hear. Then the Demogorgon turned towards the laundry room door and smashed it open.

Steve was brushing his teeth when he heard something large being smashed downstairs. Shit. What the hell had Ash done? He spat out his toothpaste and threw on a pair of boxers. Then he heard a familiar scream from David and a familiar roar from a Demogorgon. Steve grabbed his bat from where it was leaning next to the toilet plunger and, after a split second of hesitation, grabbed the toilet plunger too.

Yui was awoken by the crash and alarmed by the scream. Nea had somehow slept through it, so she gave Nea a hard shove as she leapt out of bed and ran towards the sounds while grabbing a standing lamp and brandishing it like a spear.

Jeff was almost asleep when he heard heavy footsteps on the floorboards. “Ash?” he mumbled sleepily. “Iss late, just-”

Jeff snapped upright when he heard David scream. “Shit!” He yelled and slammed open the door to the guest bedroom. He froze for a second when he saw the living room. David was on the couch, and the Demogorgon was looming over him, mouth open and drooling. It snapped its head towards Jeff and he barely had time to jump out of the way before the Demogorgon launched itself towards him. It flew through the doorway and slammed into the bed as Ash was climbing out of it. It looked to Jeff like the foot of the bed just exploded into splinters beneath the Demogorgon’s body and massive claws. Ash cried out and Jeff glanced at him, worried the Demogorgon had gotten him, but Ash didn’t seem to be bleeding. The Demogorgon stood up from the wreckage of the shattered bed and turned towards Ash. It covered the distance to him in two strides and drew an arm back to claw him. So Jeff threw a clock at the Demogorgon.

In Jeff’s defense, a clock was not at all his first choice of weaponry, but his options were rather limited. But the important thing was it got the monster’s attention off of Ash. Jeff got ready to dodge another lunge but then something slammed into him and everything went dark.

Steve arrived in the living room in his underwear to see David clutching a knife from the kitchen in one hand and what looked like a large puncture wound in his side with the other. “Demogorgon!” he gasped to Steve when Jeff burst through the wall next to the door to the guest room with the Demogorgon on top of him. Jeff’s arm was bent the wrong way, there were three parallel gashes across his ribcage, and blood was flowing freely from a head wound. The Demogorgon roared as it crouched over Jeff, who didn’t respond.

“Please let him just be knocked out” thought Steve as he swung his bat with a wordless yell. The end of the bat slammed directly into the Demogorgon’s left shoulder but it barely seemed fazed, its right claws swinging towards Steve. He tried to duck but ended up catching the claws across the side of his head. 

Steve fell and slid on his bare back across the wood floor until his head hit the foot of the stairs- not a pleasant experience, but he had bigger problems. Such as the monster standing over him and opening its mouth to gnaw his head off. Steve was fully prepared for his last thought to be regret that he hadn’t been able to keep his friends safe when he saw a strange and beautiful sight: Yui Kimura jumping off the landing of the stairs and shoving a lamp into the Demogorgon’s open maw.

Yui thanked whatever gods were listening that she had arrived in time to save Steve. The creature stumbled backwards as she rode the momentum of her jump into a body slam into the thing’s chest. But she was a slender woman and the Demogorgon was about to recover its balance when David launched himself towards the Demogorgon, his shoulder slamming into its Ken-Doll groin, and it fell onto its back.

David moved to kneel on one of its wrists before he began stabbing at the inside of its mouth with the knife he had grabbed. Steve got on the other wrist before slamming his bat into the Demogorgon’s belly over and over. Yui, for her part, did her best to shove the lamp as far down the things throat as she could. Nea stumbled down the stairs at the same time Ash emerged from the guest room.

“Garage. Lighter fluid. Matches. Go!” Steve shouted at them as he continued to bash the monster. Ash and Nea nodded in understanding, and Ash hobbled towards the garage while Nea began dragging Jeff to safety.

The Demogorgon was afraid. The three Hot Worlders had it pinned down, and while they probably couldn’t kill them with their improvised weapons, The Demogorgon was also out of options. It was stuck, and access to the Upside Down was limited under the New Master. They could have just disappeared into their home under the Old Master, but now they were trapped and the one with the metal hand was pouring some liquid on their legs.

“Nea got Jeff into your car. You sure this will work?” yelled Ash over the screams of the Demogorgon.

“I don’t see you offering any better solutions!” replied Steve, his voice on the edge of panic.

“Then let’s roll!” shouted Ash as he lit a match, tossed it at the Demogorgon’s legs, and bolted for the garage. The other three were right behind him, Yui pushing the button for the garage door while David slammed the door and Steve scrambled into the driver's seat of his car and desperately pushed his keys into the ignition.

Steve’s car pulled into the street in a squeal of rubber on asphalt as unearthly cries came from inside his house, the fire already visible through the windows. They were halfway to the police station when Nea suddenly asked “Where’s Quentin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For timeline reference, this was the night of June 28. The next chapter will covering events happening concurrently, mostly at the police station.
> 
> So yeah, things are starting to heat up! Please do comment and tell me what you think! Until next time!


	5. Mad Grit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopper gets a call. The police station gets visitors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another one! Turns out I can't plan things too far ahead because I only figure out how conflicts will be resolved by writing them. Now we see what everyone else is doing the night of the 28th.

Jim Hopper was looking forward to a good night’s sleep. So he was not happy when he heard the voice of the night dispatcher on his answering machine.

“Hey boss, it’s me, Duncan. Look I know it’s probably your exes coordinating a bunch of crank calls or something but the phone’s been blowing up with weird calls. People have been saying all sorts of crazy shit, some dude with a cone on his head and a sword, some nurse-looking lady floating around. And Beverly Schmidt has disappeared with nothing left but a broken window in her bedroom, according to her folks. So I know you’re probably gonna hate me but- hey! Hey, who are you? Put that-”

Any other night, Jim would have assumed Duncan was messing with him, but he had sounded legitimately scared at the end and the survivors  _ had _ just come through an interdimensional portal, so Jim just sighed and grabbed a fresh pack of cigarettes.

“Hey El?” he called. “The station called, apparently halloween came early this year. Probably nothing, but the three rules are extra important until I get back, ‘kay?”

“I’m going with you.” El replied.

“Sweetie, I don’t have time to argue about this. Just lock the door and-”

“Okay. Leave me alone then.” El said with a smirk.

“El, that’s not what I… damn it… just get in the damn car.”

“Put that down!” shrieked the pimple-faced teen watching the desk as Frank’s knife cut through the phone cord.

“Stay back! I have a gun!” the kid said as the rest of the Legion entered through the front door, masks on, hoods up, and knives drawn.

“No you don’t dummy, otherwise you would’ve drawn it!” said Frank with a sigh. “Now, we know a bunch of people are staying here tonight, so how about you tell me where the hell Jeff Johansen is so that I don’t have to cut your goddamn nuts off?”

“He’s not here!” squeaked the teen. Julie chuckled at the way he squirmed as Frank raised his knife. “Check the logs! I can tell you everyone who’s here, but there isn’t a Jeff!”

“Shit!” Frank shouted as he casually slashed the clerk’s throat. Beneath his mask, Joey gawked at the body as it fell the floor, blood spurting from the wound.

“Why’d you kill him man?” asked Joey.

“He would’ve gotten in the way.” answered Frank. “Come on, we’ll grab one of the others and see what they know.

A quick check of a notebook on the desk confirmed that Jeff was not staying at the police station. The names listed were Dwight Fairfield, Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel, Ace Visconti, Bill Overbeck, and David Tapp. A brief search of the station revealed the Survivors were sleeping in unlocked cells in the jail.

Pegging him as the weakest, physically and mentally, the four teens approached the man with the messy dress shirt and messier hair. He was always terrified in trials, and out here he could die for good.

“You guys wait out there, make sure nobody else wakes up.” Frank said as he confidently strode into Dwight’s cell. He placed a hand over Dwight’s mouth and his eyes flew open. “Here’s how this is gonna go, bitch. When I take my hand away you are going to  _ whisper _ where Jeff Johansen is. Any funny business, well…” Frank held up his knife, still wet with the blood of the clerk. “We wouldn’t want that, would we? Good. Now, remember, quietly.”

Frank stood up as Dwight sat up and mumbled something very quietly. He leaned in and said “Don’t get smart with me. Where.”

“Go to Hell!” shouted Dwight as he propelled himself towards the cell door by pushing Frank’s head against the wall. But he didn’t go through it, he slammed it shut. Frank’s mask had split down the middle and fallen off when he hit the wall, and Dwight could see blood running from Frank’s newly misshapen nose and fury in his eyes.

“You’re stug in here wid me now, gunt!” Frank shouted as he lunged at Dwight with his knife.

Outside the cell, the other survivors were startled awake by the ruckus. The rest of the Legion, seeing their leader trapped and themselves outnumbered, made a collective decision to run. Bill tried to grab Susie as she ran past him, earning him a shallow slash on the arm, and soon the three of the Legion were running into the night.

“Interesting.” muttered the Deathslinger as he watched them flee from a rooftop across the street.

Jim and El arrived at the police station to a somber sight. Claudette and Meg were sitting in front of the police station in tears as Ace tried to comfort them. “Visconti, what the hell happened?” asked Jim as he hopped out of the car.

“Go talk to Ace and Tapp. I’m kinda busy here.” said Ace with a glare. “And make sure you announce yourself first.”

Jim walked into the station and threw his arm out to stop El the moment he saw over the desk. “Go wait with Ace.”

“What is it?” 

“El, sweetie, I know you just wanna help, but right now I need you to go wait with Ace, okay?”

Hearing the sadness and steel in his tone, El decided to just go wait with Ace. Jim went around the desk, stopping to lay his jacket over Duncan’s lifeless form before heading back towards the jail. He noted that the gun cabinet (it really should have been a safe, but who the hell would steal guns from the police station?) had been busted open. He would definitely announce himself as Ace recommended.

“Overbeck? Tapp? It’s me, Jim” he called as he went down the stairs into the jail. He stopped as he took in the sight before him. Sitting in hall facing Dwight’s cell were Bill and Tapp, the former with a rifle across his lap and the latter holding a pistol. Inside Dwight’s cell was a teen with a broken nose pacing the length of the cell, and the bloody, mutilated corpse of what Jim assumed had once been Dwight Fairfield.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. Can you forgive me? 
> 
> As always, please leave any requests, comments, or suggestions (still looking for a better title). I can't promise to use all of your comments, but I do promise to read all of them and reply!


	6. Decisive Strike

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike gathers the Party with his sister's help. The group from the hotel run into trouble.

“Mike. Police Station. Bring Party.”

Mike Wheeler sat up in bed with a gasp as El’s voice echoed in his head. She had been in his dreams before- a lot- but never like that. He was fairly certain that was actually El communicating with him. Seeing the sun rising on the horizon, Mike quickly got dressed and brushed his teeth before running downstairs. He was surprised to see Nancy already up and ready. “Have you seen my keys?” she asked.

“On the counter. But listen, I need a big favor.”

“I’m sorry Mike but I really need to go, something’s happening and I’ve gotta get to the police station.”

“Wait, why are  _ you _ going to the police station?”

“The phone line at Steve’s was apparently disconnected so I called the police station and Hopper said to go there.”

“El told  _ me _ to go there and to bring the party.”

Nancy sighed, pursed her lips, and eventually said “Fine, I’ll take you and your friends, but only because I know if I don’t help you you’ll find some way to do it and put everyone in danger in the process.”

“Thank you!” Mike said before giving his sister a hug and grabbing his jacket.

Jake, Laurie, Min, Kate, Adam, Jane, and Cheryl had all been in turns annoyed to have been awoken in the middle of the night, shocked to see the Wraith calmly sitting in the lobby, and worried by what he and Zarina told them. The group quickly decided to take the two police cruisers Hopper had lent them (they weren’t sure if he was supposed to do that, but who was gonna tell him off?) and go to the station to warn the others, since the pay phone in the hotel lobby wasn’t working.

So with Jake driving Laurie, Adam, and Jane and Kate driving Min, Cheryl, Zarina, and Philip (whose tall frame could barely fit in the passenger seat of the car) the eight of them set off.

Out behind the hotel, Danny Johnson wondered if cutting the hotel’s phone line was worth the risk. But based on his expert eavesdropping only those seven survivors knew, and the longer he could keep the others from learning what was going on, the better.

Kate was feeling nervous as she drove. Justifiably so, she thought. There was a man who had killed her countless times sitting next to her and according to him all the other killers were loose. What could they do? Did Hopper have the manpower to deal with them? She doubted it. Could that Owens guy get the feds involved? Maybe. What if-

She was shocked out of her thoughts when she heard a rumble and a trench, filled with blood, barbed wire, and jutting pieces on metal opened up in the middle of the road. Directly underneath Jake’s car. One steel bar punctured straight through the bottom of his vehicle and its momentum dragged the car off of it, leaving a large gash in the middle of the back of the car. Kate thanked her lucky stars she was following Jake, since if that had happened to her car it probably would have killed Min, who was sandwiched between Cheryl and Zarina in her backseat. Kate slammed on the breaks and the car screeched as it skidded into the trench. The front wheels got stuck in the trench, however, and they looked shredded by the sharp metal. Everyone bailed out of the cars and squinted into the sunrise as, from the woods by the side of the road, a male figure with a massive metal pyramid on his head and a massive knife strode towards them.

“Dustin! Dustin, wake up! Code Red!” Mike shouted as he pounded on the door of Dustin’s bedroom. He had been able to call ahead to Lucas, who had waited for them on his front porch with his radio and an irritated look on his face.

“Mike? What are you-” Dustin mumbled sleepily as he opened his door.

“No time, Code Red, come on!” 

“Mike I’m still in my pajamas!” said Dustin as Mike dragged him towards Nancy’s car.

“It’s a Code Red Dustin, it doesn’t matter!”

“Okay, but if anyone says shit I’m telling them it’s your fault.” muttered Dustin.

Pyramid Head slowly approached the survivors. He walked towards the group in the second car. There was the one he had to bring back. But there were interlopers. They would be punished for interfering, he decided as the tall one with the strange sickle with a skull stood protectively in front of his target.

Pyramid Head wasn’t worried. He plunged his blade into the ground, steel cutting through asphalt, and the survivors jumped out of the way. They knew what was coming. But this interloper did not. Another gash opened in the earth beneath the interloper- probably a killer turned traitor, he thought. This traitor let out a feral snarl as barbed wire leaped out of the trench to lash at his back and wrap around his limbs.

Then the traitor leaped him with a shout and Pyramid Head was surprised to feel cold metal bite into his bicep. The traitor wasn’t pulling his punches. Fine then.

Pyramid Head turned towards the traitor, swinging Greatknife in a wide, horizontal arc intended to cleave the traitor in half. The traitor, however, easily dropped into a low crouch before charging into Pyramid Head’s stomach. He let out a grunt of surprise as he was knocked backwards against the car stuck in the trench, dropping his weapon. He didn’t need it now though. One hand gripping the frame of the car for support, he grabbed the traitor by the neck and held him in the air. Metal and concrete rose from the ground to bind the traitor’s arms to their side, when suddenly he felt pain blossom in the fingers on his hand on the car. Concentration broken, the traitor’s bindings fell away and he collapsed to the ground while the Executioner look to see one of the survivors pull back the car door before slamming it on his fingers again. 

They would all be punished for that.

After Mike’s panic had convinced Joyce to drive her sons to the police station to see what was going on, the only person left to fetch was Max. Lucas and Mike were all for sneaking Max out through the window, but Nancy managed to keep her cool under the suspicious glare of Neil Hargrove and he eventually bought Nancy’s story about ‘summer tutoring’.

So Max squeezed in between Dustin and Lucas and they were off towards the police station.

Jane Romero was questioning every decision that brought her to this point. But especially the decision to slam the car door on Pyramid Head’s fingers again after he had already dropped Philip. He gave an inhuman roar as he yanked the twisted, bloody fingers of his right hand out of the car door and scooped up the Greatknife in his left hand. He made another one of his wide slashes at Jane but she managed to jump on top of the car and the blade only smashed into the driver’s door. But he followed up the attack by bringing a heavy forearm down on top of Jane’s stomach, knocking the wind out of her and making her feel sick. Blade abandoned again, she felt Pyramid Head’s good hand close around her neck and squeeze. He slammed her into the roof of the car and Jane’s vision went dark for a second. She didn’t remember him lifting her off the roof again, but he must have, because then her head slammed into it again. Then Jane Romero saw two things happen very quickly.

The first was Philip, back on his feet, grab the wrist of Pyramid Head’s bad arm in one hand and the elbow in the other and yank the wrist back while pushing the elbow forward. Jane thought the snap must have been audible a mile away.

The second was Laurie Strode, with an unladylike grunt, sticking a tire iron between Pyramid Head’s ribs. And then yanking it out and stabbing it back in. Again. And again. And despite the bruising on her neck, Jane felt she was probably safe as everything went black.

Nancy arrived with her brother and his friends at the police department with a massive sense of relief when she saw Steve’s car park outside it. She and the kids ran inside to see Chief Hopper talking to officers Powell and Callahan.

“Callahan, your dumb ass wouldn’t understand or believe me even if I  _ did _ explain it to you, and people’s lives are in danger, so can you please spare me the cheek for once in your God damned life and just tell people to stay inside?”

Callahan nodded, dumfounded, and walked outside with Powell following him. Hopper turned to Nancy. “Good, you’re here, the other Survivors are in the meeting room, they’ll explain what we know, then we’re gonna go out to the hotel since their phone is down. Joyce, Jonathan, you two are probably gonna need to hold down the fort here and watch the kids while we investigate.”

“I’m not just leaving my brother here in the middle of whatever the hell is going on!” Nancy exclaimed at the same time Steve walked out of the conference room and said “Great, the shitheads are all here, you turds are sticking with me until we’ve got stuff figured out, got it?”

Eventually after Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy (and eventually the Party, who listened in on everything and managed to put things together from what they overheard) were caught up on what had happened at Steve’s and the police station, it was decided that Jim, Joyce, Nancy, and Steve would stay at the station with the kids, while the other survivors would follow Jonathan to the hotel, since he knew the way. But as the survivors drove away, Chief Hopper had a deep sense of foreboding in his gut.

Philip was thoroughly frightened. Not because of the creature that had just tried to kill him, although he was definitely a little shaken. No, what scared Philip was the blonde girl who had stabbed said monstrosity with a small piece of iron until it fell over, then pried open its ribcage and stabbed its exposed heart a few times. She stood up, hands drenched with blood up to the elbows, and casually blew a few strands of hair out of her face.

“Just wanted to be sure.” she said with a shrug as she took in the variously awed, shocked, and concerned looks of her fellow survivors. Jake was the first to recover his wits.

“Jesus Strode, no wonder Stevie-boy has the hots for you.”

“No he does not!” Laurie said with an eye roll as she dropped the bloody tire iron and casually leaned against the busted police cruiser. “Let’s be real” she said in a conspiratorial whisper to Cheryl that Philip could only pick up with his Entity-enhanced hearing. “Hair like that? He’s way out of my league.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh. I guess Steve and Laurie have crushes on each other. Wonder how that'll end up.
> 
> Also hey! I didn't kill off any fan favorites this chapter! Unless you're really into Pyramid Head.
> 
> As always, please tell me what you think down below! I love every piece of feedback I get!


	7. Make Your Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Nancy give the kids a crash course in monster fighting. Jim has a shootout with the Deathslinger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been looking forward to writing this. Enjoy!

“Okay so, in conclusion, the killers from the Realms Steve and Nancy were trapped in are on the loose, and Hopper is shutting down the town?” Mike asked the Party as they sat around the police chief’s office. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“So what are we gonna do?” asked Dustin. “Wait- Melvald’s has a bunch of fireworks for the Fourth! We can make a bomb, or a trap!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah, that’s a no.” said Steve as he opened the door. “I don’t mean to interrupt your little pow-wow, but I heard Dustin say ‘fireworks’ and I was filled with an overwhelming sense of dread.”

“Aw, you’re no fun!” whined Dustin in response.

“Okay King Steve” Max said, throwing out Steve’s old nickname to get under his skin “I know you’re going to tell us not to fight them, but if we  _ have _ to fight them, what do we do?”

“Not to dump this all on El, but either El takes them with her powers or you’re fucked. But let’s see. Trapper, watch your step. Wraith hates light, most of them do, but him especially. Hillbilly, try to outsmart him. Laurie might rag on us Indiana rednecks, but the Hillbilly is like, a triple inbred Alabama redneck. Don’t ask what triple inbred means. Anyway, if the Nurse catches you, you’re boned, best thing to do against her is not get found. Huntress, run zig zags. If you see Myers, pray to God or Laurie for an intervention, either will work. Hag, watch your step times a billion. If it’s the goddamn Doctor tell me and I’ll beat the bastard myself.”

“Or I’ll shoot him!” said Nancy, holding up a pistol from the gun cabinet while leaning in the doorway. “God I’d love to shoot the Doctor.”

“Nobody likes the Doctor.” said Steve. “Anyways, Leatherface is about as smart as a dog with heatstroke. Freddy… According to Quentin, in the real world, just don’t fall asleep. Which I know isn’t a long term solution. But we’ll probably need Quentin’s experience to have a shot at beating him for good, assuming Quentin is still alive…” Steve trailed off, looking extremely guilty and distressed.

“Don’t let the Pig put a trap on your head.” continued Nancy “If the Clown throws a bottle at you, hold your breath. If the Spirit is standing still, don’t go near her, but move away as quietly as you can. I don’t know if the Legion is still a threat, Frank says he’s their leader. Don’t touch anything the Plague touched. Always keep an eye out for Ghostface. Demogorgon’s dead, thank god. Try not to let the Oni draw blood. Deathslinger and Pyramid Head, zig zags.”

“Okay, but what if-” Lucas began when they heard a gunshot followed by Jim shouting “JOYCE! TAKE THE KIDS AND RUN!”

Caleb Quinn was a lawman at heart. Sure, as a bounty hunter, he was admittedly more capitalistic than the organized police forces in the big cities. But at the end of the day, they all kept bad people from causing trouble. But Caleb could also admit that not every lawman was in it for… benevolent reasons. Caleb would be the first to admit he was a bounty hunter because it paid well. Caleb also knew that not all lawmen enforced the same laws. Caleb would enforce the law of whoever could pay him best. But as he approached the Hawkins police station, Caleb was hoping to talk as one lawman to another.

“Listen Chief” he began as he walked into the station with his hands up and the cop sitting on the front desk pointed a pistol at him. “You and me, we’re on the same side here.” he said, pausing just inside the doorway. Jim lowered the gun just a little bit. “I just need two people and I’ll be out of your way. You’ll never see me again. It’s less paperwork for you. And I know at least one of them isn’t from around here. I just need Zarina Kassir and Jane Hopper.”

Caleb knew he must have been missing something crucial when he said the last name and fury lit in the eyes of the man on the table. He was ducking out the door and into cover even before the cop finished drawing his gun, and he fired a shot off before shouting “JOYCE! TAKE THE KIDS AND RUN!”

Joyce Byers knew without a doubt that there is one thing she can, will, and must do, and that’s keep her goddamn kids safe. So when she heard Hop shouting for her to take the kids and run, she wasted no time in grabbing the station’s second shotgun (Ash had called dibs on the first one the moment he saw the gun cabinet), herding the kids out the back door, and staying right behind they Party as they, Nancy, and Steve ran towards the woods.

Jim breathed heavily as the sound of his first shot rang in his ears. The guy with the misshapen jaw and the wild eyes had also had some sort of rifle slung across his back, so Jim was surprised when he saw the cowboy-looking maniac dashing across the street with the rifle still across his back. He almost didn’t notice the revolver in his opponent's hand in time to duck down behind the front desk before he heard six cracks of gunfire. Jim opened his eyes (when had he closed them?) to take stock of the situation. There were three dime sized holes in the wood of the desk he was hiding- no, taking cover behind. He leaned forward to peer through one of the bullet holes and definitely did not pee a little when a foot long metal spike with barbs on the end smashed through the wood below his face, sending splinters into his beard. Jim realized the spear was on the end of a chain when it suddenly slipped back through the hole it had made in the desk.

“How close was I, pardner?” Jim heard the crazed gunman call out, sounding like he was starring in a Western. “Feet? Inches? I never take more than three tries, but I’m betting I getcha on the second. Wanna wager? How far does twenty dollars go these days?”

Jim risked another peek to see the tip of the spear poking up from behind a car across the street. Probably reloading. So Jim took a deep breath, then in one motion stood up, turned towards his target, and began emptying his pistol into the car. “Got him.” Jim thought before his shoulder exploded in agonizing pain.

Caleb Quinn was disappointed. That cop was an idiot to waste all his bullets on a target in cover. He was lucky to have gotten Caleb’s ear the way he did.

But Caleb fired too. And he grinned through the pain when his spear hit the cop in the shoulder. He barely heard the Chief’s cry of pain over the ringing in his remaining ear as he reeled the cop in along with his spear, walking forward to meet them.

The two met on the sidewalk in front of the police station, the cop barely conscious through the pain. “Listen close, ‘cause I’m not gonna repeat myself.” Caleb said as he ripped the Chief’s overshirt off and began tearing it into strips. “This spear in your shoulder will kill you if it’s taken out without a doctor on hand. Now I’m not gonna take it out” Caleb continued as he fiddled with a clasp on the end of the chain and the spear came loose from it. “But bleedin’ out ain’t the only thing you gotta worry about. See, this spear’s covered in rattlesnake venom, and I’d bet my life I’m the only feller in this town with an antidote. So tell me, where are Kassir and Hopper?”

Caleb looked down at the large man gasping in pain in front of them. For a moment Caleb thought the man was going to pass out, or simply stay silent. That would’ve been an inconvenience, but if he hadn’t talked Caleb would have respected that. But then the cop choked out: “Kassir is at the hotel. Dunno where Joyce took the kids.”

Caleb looked at him for a long moment. A coward, then. But Caleb didn’t think he was a liar. This one didn’t seem smart enough to have set up a rendezvous with the Joyce person ahead of time. So Caleb nodded once, stood up, and walked away while tying the makeshift bandage he made from the cop’s shirt around his newly missing ear.

“Antidote… deal…” gasped the cop as Caleb left.

“Sorry string bean. There never was any poison.” And Caleb laughed and laughed as he walked away and left Jim Hopper to live or die without a care which it was.

And Jim Hopper probably would have died if Quentin Smith hadn’t come running around one corner a few seconds after the Deathslinger walked around another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a couple of questions:  
> 1\. What do you guys think of Hopper?  
> 2\. I swear I came up with this before I saw the end of Season 3, but should I still use the 4th of July fireworks knowing pretty much the same thing was used in the show?  
> 3\. Did you catch the classic DbD meme I slipped in?
> 
> Lemme know what your answers to those questions are or anything else in the comments! I love hearing what y'all think!


	8. Apothecary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quentin returns. Steve lets himself be vulnerable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter. It's shorter and less intense kind of tying up some loose ends before the next chapter. I'm not sure how chapter 9 is gonna end, but I know it's probably gonna be called Showdown and people are probably gonna die.

Quentin had laid in Steve’s bed that night feeling incredibly tired. He wanted nothing more than to finally have a good night’s sleep. But every time he closed his eyes he saw him. Even with Freddy Krueger a world away he kept Quentin from sleeping.

Frustrated, Quentin decided to take a walk. It was a cool summer night, with crickets and stars and everything. It was too idyllic a scene for him to pass up, really. He was going to tell Steve where he was going, but Steve was in the shower so Quentin just left.

He had been extremely surprised when, not half an hour later, Quentin came back to see firefighters battling a blaze consuming the Harrington house. With no better options Quentin had spent the night wandering in what he knew was the general direction of the police station.

Which is how around noon on June 29th Quentin Smith found Chief Hopper bleeding all over the sidewalk of Hawkins’ Main Street. Quentin shouted in alarm and ran over to him. Hopper was unconscious and laying in a pool of blood. Then Quentin’s brain stopped for a second as he recognized the projectile in the Chief’s shoulder. His thoughts were racing a million miles per hour at the implications of the wound he was treating (Quentin found himself EXTREMELY glad he hadn’t fallen asleep). For a moment Quentin considered taking off his (Steve’s, but whatever) shirt and tearing it into makeshift bandages when he realized they almost certainly had some manner of medical supplies in the police station. He had never been more glad for his knack for finding medical supplies than when he walked into the police station and immediately saw a white box with a red cross hanging on the wall behind the front desk. Quentin immediately looked inside and could have cried with relief when he saw it had just about everything he had dared hope for. He might just be able to save the Chief’s life.

“You need to invite us all over more often, otherwise we’re just going to associate this place with deadly crises.” Max told Will as the Byers House became visible through the trees.

“You think that’s bad? The only two times I came here both involved me fighting for my life.” called Steve from the front of the group, where he was clearing a path through the woods with his bat.

Once they got inside and had the door firmly locked and barricaded, the group let out a collective sigh of relief. Until Will asked “Do you think Hopper will be okay?”.

Tension and worry filled the room again. “He’s a tough guy, he’ll manage.” said Joyce but she didn’t look convinced.

“Yeah” agreed Nancy “There were a bunch of gunshots as we were leaving, he probably got the killer and is looking for us right now.”

“Joyce, Nancy, you are both extremely talented and wonderful women, but don’t sugarcoat it for the kids.” Steve said. “To answer your question Will, I don’t know. It probably depends on who it was. Hop could probably gun down the Hag- hell, he could probably beat her without a weapon if he had to- but if it’s Myers? You don’t stop Myers. You slow him down.”

“Steve!” hissed Nancy, shooting him a glare.

“What?” Steve replied defiantly. “They might be freshmen but they sure as hell don’t act like it. They’ve had to grow up fast, Nancy. They’re twice as mature as I was at their age and hell, even now sometimes I don’t know if I’m taking care of them or they’re taking care of me. You don’t have to treat the kids as equals, but at least don’t treat them like a bunch of fucking idiots!”

The room was silent for a few moments after Steve’s outburst before Nancy noticed a tear moving down Steve’s cheek.

“Steve, are you-”

“I’m sorry Nancy.” Steve interrupted. “I’m just. I thought we were free. And then this happens. And this time the kids are in danger. And I just.” Steve sat down on the end of the sofa and hung his head between his knees. Dustin, unsurprisingly, lead the Party’s charge into hugging Steve.

“I’m sorry guys.” Steve said with a sniff. “I’m just scared, I guess.”

“It’s okay Steve, this stuff is scary. I’m scared of the killers too.” Mike said gently from where he was smooshed between Steve’s side and Lucas’ elbow.

“It’s not the killers.” Steve sighed. “I mean, yeah, they’re awful, but it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before. And taking hits for you little shits is kind of my job. I’m just worried what would happen if one of you got hurt. How I could live with myself if- if one of you died and I lived. I know it’s, it’s dark, but…” Steve trailed off as Nancy and Joyce joined in the group hug. And for just a moment, Steve Harrington thought they might get through this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So maybe it was OOC for Steve to talk about his feelings without being drugged or coerced but ya know what? He's under a lot of pressure and he will sacrifice his tough guy persona if it will make the kids act a little more cautiously. 
> 
> Also I think I'm addicted to feedback. I'm checking for new comments every ten minutes or so. Now I'm not saying you need to enable my addiction... but I can't go cold turkey. Basically, tell me what you think if it's not too much trouble :)
> 
> EDIT: when our non-American killers crop up, should I explore the language barrier or should I do some hand waving about the Entity translating?


	9. Retribution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the survivors are distracted, two of their number are taken.

David King was uncharacteristically quiet as the survivors from the police station drove an assortment of police vehicles and borrowed vehicles towards the hotel. Part of it was the hole in his side, sure. But even before his time in the Realms. But now the pain seemed just as natural as feeling hot or cold. Not pleasant, but only a mild irritation in the back of his mind.

At the front of his mind were two facts: his crush was dead, and everyone was in danger. David hadn’t had the stomach to see Dwight’s body. He had seen dead people before, sure. He had even seen Dwight dead back in the Realms. But this wasn’t the realms. David was never going to be able to hold Dwight’s hand, or kiss him, or go on a real date, or-

David pushed those thoughts out of his head when his car rounded a corner and he saw two busted cars, a massive trench, and the survivors from the hotel, along with-

“WRAITH! LOOK OUT!” David shouted as he slammed on the breaks, barely waiting for the car to stop before he was out of the car and brandishing his knuckle dusters (which Hopper had confiscated from some hooligans a week before and handed off to David with a nod). He was jumping across the trench before he realized the survivors from the hotel were motioning for him to stop.

After all the survivors had updated each other, been introduced to Philip, and generally all gotten on the same page, David ended up carrying a still-unconscious Jane to his car before everyone headed back to the police station.

At least, that was the plan.

They had just entered the beginnings of what could be considered ‘downtown’ Hawkins, when everyone pulled their cars to a stop. Standing in the middle of the road and staring straight at them was the Deathslinger.

Min screamed as, in one smooth motion, the Deathslinger drew his speargun and fired it, the steel bolt crashing through the windshield of the car and into Bill’s chest. The veteran let out a gurgling cry as the Deathslinger made a flicking motion with his gun that yanked the spear out of Bill’s body. Min jumped out of the car and began scrambling for the rifle she knew Bill had put in the trunk. She heard the rapid bang of what must have been Tapp’s pistol before she heard a roar and the detective cried out. Min looked over to see a woman with a red coat beating his head with a brick before grabbing his gun and slinging him over her shoulder. Min wanted to do something, to keep what she assumed was an unmasked Pig from kidnapping him, but Min had nowhere near the skill to shoot at the Pig and be confident she wouldn’t hit Tapp instead.

So Min turned back towards the Deathslinger (since when did he have a bandage around his head?) in time to see his speargun graze the side of Yui’s arm. Probably hurt like a bitch, Min thought as she carefully aimed the rifle, but Yui would be fine.

Then Min squeezed the trigger and let out a startled squeak as the rifle went off. Not for the first time, Min wished you could turn the volume down in real life. For a moment, Min was worried she had missed. The Deathslinger turned towards her as his hand prodded the wound just below his armpit.

“Well, shit.” they heard the Deathslinger say. “Clean through the rib.” he stumbled over to a bench and sat down. “That was a nice shot, girly. I seen hits like this before. Reckon I got a minute before I can’t talk so listen up.” he said, laying his gun down.

“I’ll be quick and then get on my way.” he said as the survivors cautiously gathered around. “First off. That lovely machine next to me is called the Redeemer. Give it to that cop I shot earlier if he’s still breathin’. Second. I don’t mind you killin’ me. I really don’t. You shot me fair and square, and I woulda done the same. So try not to feel guilty about shooting a twisted sunnovabitch like me. And finally, you ever see a fat fuck named Bayshore, you tell him Caleb Quinn is waiting for him in hell. No go find your friends. Dunno if you saw but some chick with a brick took the guy with the police vest, and some guy with a screamin’ mask took yer friend with the metal hand. Now if you’ll excuse me…” Caleb Quinn then pulled his hat down over his eyes and leaned back.

There was a beat of silence before the group broke out in discussion of what to do next. Eventually it was decided that Claudette and Adam, as two of the best healers, would take Jeff and Jane back to the police station since it had seemingly become their stronghold/triage center. Jane was worryingly still unconscious after her run-in with Pyramid Head, and Jeff’s arm was still broken and had simply been put in a makeshift sling.

In the end, Meg, David, Ace, Yui, and Cheryl decided to after Ash and Ghostface while Jake, Nea, Laurie, Min, Kate and Zarina would look for Tapp and the Pig. Before they left, Jake and Laurie shamelessly went through the Deathslinger’s pockets. Jake claimed the Deathslinger’s revolver and the extra bullets for it (Min held on to the rifle while Ace picked up Ash’s shotgun) and Laurie grabbed one of the Deathslinger’s spare spears, testing its weight in her hand, before passing the rest out to Meg, Yui, Cheryl, Jake, Nea, Kate, and Zarina.

A grim smile settled over the blonde babysitter’s face. Time to turn the tables.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP Bill. 
> 
> Coming soon: Ghostface! Both Doctors! More Steve!
> 
> Speaking of whom, it occurred to me that Steve fled his house in his underwear and I never explicitly said he got more clothes. So if you want to just assume he found a change of clothes at the police station, go ahead. But if you want to, say, imagine that Steve only found a pair of jeans there... 
> 
> What I'm trying to say is that it's totally plausible that Steve will be shirtless for the rest of the fic and you have my blessing to picture him as such if you so wish.
> 
> Also, any other killers you guys wanna see pop up sooner rather than later?


	10. Thanatophobia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Carter is impatient. Doctor Owens is concerned. Nurse Smithson is stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Sorry for the delay in updating, I was out of town for a few days, then I got back and started working on the new Rift in DbD. But fear not! I'm back now and intend to continue writing and posting one chapter per day, maybe more if they're short chapters and/or I'm feeling particularly inspired.

Steve and Nancy froze as an all-too familiar shriek cut through the evening sky. “Steve… what was that?” Dustin asked nervously.

“Nurse.” Steve replied grimly as he grabbed his bat. “She’s close, too. Nancy and I will take her. You guys barricade yourself and do not come out until one of us gives the all clear.”

“We can help!” Mike said. “We’ve proven ourselves before. El’s got her powers. Lucas has a slingshot. You said we’re not kids!”

“No, I said you’re incredibly mature for your age. That does not mean I can let you or El or anyone of you guys put yourselves in danger. And that’s why Joyce is going to be with you to make sure you don’t do any heroics.”

“Excuse me?” Joyce sputtered indignantly.

“He’s got a point, Joyce.” Nancy said. “We’ve gone up against her before. We know how to use her weaknesses against her. And you and the shotgun are still a good fallback.”

Another cry echoed through the woods, much closer. “We don’t have time to argue, just go!” shouted Steve as he dropped into a fighting stance.

Joyce reluctantly herded the kids down the hall while shooting Steve a look. Then there was another agonized wail and the Nurse appeared in the Byers’ living room, pillowcase over her head and bonesaw in her hand. Steve and Nancy leaped into action, Steve swinging his bat at her stomach and Nancy firing a shot at her head. But with a rattling gasp the Nurse disappeared, and Nancy gave a surprised yelp as the Nurse appeared in front of her and slashed her arm with the bonesaw while making an exaggerated yanking motion with her other arm that yanked Nancy’s gun out of her grip.

Steve slammed his weapon in the Nurse’s back and grinned with grim satisfaction as he heard bone crunch and saw red begin to stain the Nurse’s dirty white uniform. But then she whirled around and with a thrust of her free arm Steve flew backwards into the wall. Nancy desperately picked up an end table and chucked it at the Nurse who caught it telekinetically before sending it shooting towards Nancy with twice the force. Nancy went sprawling with a shout as the table slammed into her. The Nurse blinked towards her while Steve was still dazedly groping for his bat. She bent down and slashed Nancy across the chest before letting herself float to the ground. She knelt down, straddling Nancy’s hips while she wrapped her hands around her throat. Steve leapt at the Nurse with a strangled yell and the Nurse gave out a cry as the nails of the bat tore through her pillowcase and into the back of her head. With a gesture, Steve went flying through the front window and then through the windshield of Jonathan’s car. Nancy weakly tried to push the Nurse off of her, but it was no use, she could do nothing with the weight of the woman pressed on her throat. Nancy felt her head start to scream as her lungs tried to drag in oxygen, to no avail.

Then Nancy felt the Nurse go stiff above her. She managed to suck in a trickle of air and turn her head to see El standing in the hallway, arms outstretched at the Nurse and a look of fury on her face. The Nurse turned towards the girl and extended her left arm, orange orbs of light pulsating and writhing in what Nancy assumed was a major telekinetic battle. Nancy watched in awe as El rose a few inches off the ground, blood flowing freely from both nostrils. But it looked like a stalemate. Neither was gaining ground- and as blood began to trickle out of El’s ears as well, Nancy had a horrible feeling that her brother’s girlfriend was going to lose this battle of attrition.

Then Steve Harrington limped through the front door, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Spirit with the shards of glass Nancy could see embedded in his back. One arm was clutching his back, and the other was clutching a large piece of glass. Steve was uncharacteristically quiet as he staggered towards the Nurse with murderous intent. The chunk of glass slid in between the Nurse’s ribs with a wet thud. The Nurse whirled around and her bonesaw bit into Steve’s bicep.

But that was evidently all the opportunity El needed. Nancy watched with morbid fascination as the Nurse seemed to just be… ripped apart. She vaguely registered El unleashing a wordless scream as the Nurse’s hips were twisted clockwise and her shoulders were twisted counter-clockwise. Her knees and elbows bent into the wrong angles with an indescribable noise. The Nurse let out a blood curdling howl as her ribcage collapsed, crushing her lungs and heart.

Then the twisted thing that had once been the Nurse collapsed onto the ground at the same time El collapsed backwards into Mike’s waiting arms and Steve fell face-first onto the sofa.

Thank goodness he was prepared for anything, Ghostface thought as he dumped the unconscious body of Ash into the backseat of the Jeep he had hotwired. Before the Entity had taken him, he knew that one day he would be caught, either through sloppiness or bad luck, and when he did, he planned to go out with a bang. Afterall, Ghostface was to be the last legendary serial killer (between advancing forensics technology and the ease of acquiring military grade equipment in the US, serial killers were being replaced by mass shooters) and he intended for the last chapter to be a thrilling culmination of his life- a massive car chase, or a huge shootout, or both. So he had learned some more dramatic skills. He could hotwire a car, build a crude bomb, shoot moving targets with good accuracy, and perform intermediate stunt driving.

Yes, life was good for Danny Johnson. Sure, that guy with the weird headgear would probably be pissed he was late with his scouting report, but surely he would understand certain opportunities couldn’t be passed up. When he saw the Survivors in the middle of the street staring down that cowboy-looking guy, it was really just too easy to duck into an alley, put on his costume, dip a rag in certain chemicals, and then clamp it over the guy’s face. Now all he had to do was go back to the portal and then start looking for the girl. Another hunt! He could feel the hairs on his arms and neck standing up in anticipation. Even on his legs!

Then Ghostface frowned as the headlights of the Jeep flickered and died. Apparently this thing wasn’t in as good condition as it looked. Then smoke started curling out from under the hood. With a sigh, Ghostface pulled over to the side of the road. He popped open the hood of the car when he heard a low, distorted chuckle. Shit.

Ghostface turned towards the woods as Doctor Carter walked out of them, one hand holding a large bag with a faded red cross on it and the other clenched and sparking. “Wassup Doc?” Ghostface said, leaning against the car and being thankful that his mask hid how nervous he must have looked.

“Car troubles, Ghostface? What a shame.” he said in a grating, almost staticky voice. “I certainly hope that’s not why you’re late. Not that it matters. We had a plan, Ghostface. I’ve waited more than the agreed upon 24 hours. And that means you’re late. Unreliable. Do you know what I do to unreliable colleagues, little ghost? Unreliable colleagues become unwilling test subjects.”

“Whoah whoah whoah” Ghostface said even as he dropped a hand down to the knife at his belt. “Come on Doc, cut me some slack, opportunities came up! And besides, don’t you want my intel?”

The Doctor dropped his bag before cracking his knuckles menacingly. “You forget the dynamics of our relationship. You bring the finesse, but I...” the Doctor flexed his hand and the Jeep began to rattle, and Ghostface barely jumped away before the car exploded. “...bring the power.” The Doctor finished. “And your precious intel is no leverage. Not when I can pluck it out of your head.”

There went that plan. Time for plan… what was he on now, C? D? Doesn’t matter, Ghostface thought as he whipped out his knife and slashed at the Doctor’s face. The Doctor laughed as one of his massive hands caught Ghostface’s wrist. Ghostface suddenly felt a burning as his muscles clenched, and he fell to the ground as he curled into a ball against his will. “Don’t worry little ghost, I’ll be gentle. You only  _ might  _ go insane.”

The last thing Ghostface heard before his mind was flooded with agony was the Doctor’s unnatural cackle.

Dr. Samuel Owens was very concerned when he saw the blood on the sidewalk outside the police station. He’d become concerned when a cop knocked on his door and told him to stay inside except for emergencies until further notice. That concern seemed to triple when the cop said that Hopper wouldn’t say why people needed to stay in. So naturally, as soon as the guy was gone, Owens immediately got his pistol, got in his car, and got driving towards the police station.

When he walked in, he was concerned to see that the only people there were five figures laying on the floor. All the lights were off, but Owens could see light pouring out from under the door to Hopper’s office. He went and knocked on the door and was startled when it swung open to reveal a young woman pointing a gun at his chest. He scrambled backwards with a yelp as a low voice said “Claudette, it’s just the doctor from the other day!”

The lady stammered an apology as Owens was invited into the room to see a young man who looked dead tired staring out window and a tall man with a white trench coat leaning back in Hopper’s chair. After assuring the woman- Claudette, her name was- that he was fine, he asked what was going on. After a condensed briefing session to bring Owens up to speed the doctor frowned and sat down.

“A few questions.” Owens said. “First, who are those bodies I saw in the bullpen?”

“Jane, Jeff, Chief Hopper, and some poor kid who worked the phones at night. Kid got his throat cut by the Legion, Hopper got a spear in his shoulder from the Deathslinger, Jeff got thrown through a wall by the Demogorgon, and Jane got smashed against the roof of a car by Pyramid Head. Only the desk guy is dead, but Hopper is nearly bled out, Jeff’s got a broken arm and a bad concussion, and Jane hasn’t woken up since she got smashed up this morning.” Adam reported grimly. “Jonathan is just sleeping though.”

“Well, that answers my question about Hop.” muttered Owens. “Where is everyone else?”

“About five survivors each are going after the Pig and Ghostface, they both captured one of us. Steve, Nancy, and Joyce were supposed to stay here with the kids, but we’re assuming they ran around the time that Hopper got shot.”

“Okay. And what do we know about where the killers are?” asked Owens.

“Glad you asked!” replied Adam, unfurling a map of Hawkins across Hopper’s desk. “Between the notes the desk guy took before he died and the calls we’ve been listening to here, we’ve got a fairly good idea of where some of the killers are.” He placed a sheet of paper next to the map. “We’ve got a list of the killers here. We haven’t gotten any reports fitting the description of the Trapper. The Wraith is on our side, like we said- he’s out scouting for us right now. Now the Hillbilly, we’ve gotten reports of a twisted man with a chainsaw running around by the old quarry. The Nurse is running around in the woods near the Byers house. The Huntress and Myers are also in the woods on the outskirts of town. We’ve got a suspicion the Hag is at this house, or at least was. Got a call from a mailman saying the house had its door hanging open with a weird symbol on it and he was going to check it out. Never heard back from him, and weird symbols definitely seem like Hag business. We haven’t heard anything from the Doctor or Leatherface yet. Nor Freddy, but we’re assuming that’s because El and Quentin haven’t gone to sleep yet. We’re on the Pig’s trail like I said. Got a report of a man in clown makeup kidnapping a little girl. (Owens shuddered and tried not to think about what had likely happened to her) Spirit is probably over here. Dwight managed to capture the leader of the Legion and the rest of them ran off. Plague is over here- should probably set up a perimeter around the town by the way, for quarantine and to make sure no killers get out. We’re tracking Ghostface, got sightings of the Oni around here, and Demogorgon, Deathslinger, and Pyramid Head are dead.”

“We’ve got a lot of work to do.” sighed Owens. “Let me make a few calls.”

“Hey Steve” Lucas began hesitantly “I’m really glad you’re okay, but how the hell are you okay? The cuts in your back closed up a few seconds after Joyce pulled the glass out, and your arm kind of healed itself before Joyce could get to it. And that’s without getting into how you got hit in the head by a Demogorgon last night and right now that’s just a scar.”

“Well, the Entity kind of gave us powers.” Steve said, leading to an outburst from the Party. “NO, no, not like El powers” Steve said, glancing at where the girl was curled up in Mike’s lap. “Like, I just sort of heal if I’m helping people. Nea can fall from impossible heights. It kind of depends on what you were good at before you got taken. I’m guessing the Entity saw me lead you into the tunnels after Billy beat me half to death and said ‘Gimme more of  _ that _ !’”

Nancy and Joyce walked into the living room with the others, Nancy having had her wounds freshly bandaged. “When can I sleep?” El murmured.

“I’m so sorry El but it’s not safe yet.” said Nancy as she sat down. “We can’t go to sleep until we figure out some way to deal with Krueger.”

“I’ll fight him…” El mumbled sleepily.

“Not like that you won’t.” Steve replied “We’ll figure something out though.”

“Like you figured stuff out with the Nurse?” Mike asked with a disdainful tone.

“The Nurse was way too strong.” replied Nancy “She didn’t pause after blinks. And her telekinesis has never had that kind of strength or range. I’ll admit she caught us off guard, and was probably one of the worst killers to be caught off guard by.”

“You do realize this means you have no excuse to hold me back. Your logic was you knew what to expect and you clearly didn’t.” cut in Joyce.

“That’s… a fair point.” conceded Steve. “We thought we did, but… yeah. We’re in this together now. We won’t try to hold you back, right Nance?” Steve said, and Nancy nodded.

“What about us?” asked Dustin. “We can help too! I still think we should go to Melvald’s for-” 

“Dustin, we all know you want to blow things up, but you kids are not allowed on the front lines!” Joyce said.

“I’m not saying let us punch monsters, I’m saying let us help where we can!” Dustin replied.

“Alright, look, how about this: we hike back to town, check on the police station, if Hopper is there we’ll do what he says, if not we’ll go raid Melvald’s.” suggested Nancy. “Is that a good compromise?”

Reluctantly, Dustin nodded. “Halfway happy…” El whispered under her breath.

“Guess I’m gonna be carrying this one?” Steve said, gesturing at El. The only reply he got as the group began gathering their things was El sleepily holding out her arms to the babysitter.

Meg, David, Ace, Yui, and Cheryl stood around the smoldering wreckage of a Jeep and looked at the cloaked figure laying on the ground beside it. 

“Think he’s dead?” grunted David.

“Ghostface or Ash?” asked Yui.

“There’s a skeleton in the back of the Jeep.” Ace said with a gulp. “It has a metal hand.” 

David swore loudly and violently, aiming a frustrated kick at Ghostface. Ghostface groaned and rolled onto his side. Then he used the wrecked Jeep to pull himself to his feet. Then he turned around to see Ace pointing a shotgun at his chest.

“Hands where we can see ‘em.” said Ace with a glare from under his sunglasses. 

Ghostface slowly raised his hands above his head before saying “Who the hell are you and why am I wearing a mask?”

“Real cute buddy. Now get moving, you’re coming with us.” said Meg.

“Can I at least take this mask off first? It’s got terrible ventilation, and it smells like burned hair in here. And where am I? And seriously, who are you people to point a gun at me?”

“What’s the last thing you can remember?” Cheryl slowly asked.

“There was a… I think he was a person? But his face… there was metal. And wires. And sparks. And he laughed… and then everything hurt. And he wanted to know what I knew, which was… uh… what  _ did _ I know? Wait… who am I? Do any of you know what my name is?” asked Ghostface, his voice tinged with rising panic.

The survivors regarded the man in the white mask with suspicion before Yui told him not to move and the Survivors huddled together to confer. After a few minutes, Ace said “Alright buddy, looks like you had a run in with the Doctor and lost your memories. Come with us, we’re heading back to the police station, we’ll explain as best we can along the way.”

“Okay, but first, where am I and what’s my name? That’s like, basic stuff.”

“You’re in Hawkins, Indiana.” replied Meg. “As far as I know none of us know your name so for now we’ll just call you, uh, Joe? How does Joe sound?”

“As good a name as any other.” replied Joe. “Now what’s this about a Doctor stealing my memory?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming soon! The Pig plays a game, and Quentin falls asleep. Stay tuned, and as always, please tell me what you think in the comments!!!


	11. Saboteur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Min plays a game with the Pig, and the survivors get ready for bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter chapter, but it is necessary to tie things together, and the next chapter is definitely going to be a lot longer, and I'm gonna get started on it as soon as this is posted.

“Why are people so damn heavy?” Amanda wondered as she carried the unconscious and bleeding body of the detective through the woods towards the lab. And why were the survivors gaining on her so fast? Sure, she was weighed down, but she had a head start, and it should have been hard for them to catch her trail! At least she wasn’t breathing in the stench of rotting pig. But they were absolutely getting closer. When she looked over her shoulder and saw the girl with the short hair and the beanie trampling through the underbrush after her. Amanda decided to make her stand.

Dropping Detective Tapp to the ground and flicking out her wrist blade, Amanda positioned the blade over Tapp’s throat and shouted “Okay assholes, come out slowly with your hands up or your friend gets it!”

Six Survivors slowly emerged from the woods, and Amanda cursed internally when she saw they were all armed. So much for fighting her way out.

“What do you want, Pig?” called out the blonde girl who stabbed people. Yeah, she definitely wasn’t fighting her way out of this one.

“I’ve got a deal for you.” Amanda called out, thinking on the fly. “I was told to capture this one and kill some girl named El Hopper. Let me take this one, and I won’t kill the girl.”

“Hell no!” called out the girl with the beanie.

“I’ve got a counter offer.” said an Asian girl with a rifle. “Tapp said the Jigsaw killers like their games. So I’ve got a game for you. Rock, Paper, Scissors. You win, we let you take Tapp. I win, you leave Tapp and go back to the Realms.”

“Really? Rock, Paper, Scissors? Do I look like a second grader?” asked Amanda.

“Look, it’s not like we’ve got a Monopoly board.” said the stabby girl.

“How about Russian Roulette?” the Asian guy suggested, turning his hip to reveal a six-shooter.

“Like I’d trust you not to rig that.” Amanda scoffed. “Fine. Rock, Paper, Scissors. One round, no funny business. Deal?”

“Deal. No funny business from you either.” replied the Asian girl. So Amanda retracted her blade and stepped forward and placed a fist on her palm.

“Rock, Paper, Scissor-”

BANG! A shot rang out, followed by five more. Min turned to see Jake blowing smoke away from the barrel of his smoking revolver. Lying on the ground, with two bullet holes in her chest, one in her arm, and one in her head, was the Pig.

“Dude, I said no funny business! Not that I particularly mind.” said Min.

“Yeah,  _ you  _ said no funny business. I agreed to no such thing.” replied Jake as he reloaded his gun. “You might be a gamer, but I’m a Survivor, first and foremost.”

The group searching for Tapp arrived back at the police station around the same time as the group that had gone after Ash. Everyone gathered inside, and began getting each other up to speed. They had to restart a few times when the Wraith came back with confirmation of the Hag’s location and Joyce led the kids in, along with Nancy and Steve. But eventually everyone was on the same page.

“Alright, so who do we go after next?” asked Laurie as they all sat in a loose circle around the bullpen.

Quentin sighed. “We need to deal with Krueger sooner rather than later. I don’t know if our ability to go without sleep transferred from the Realms to the real world, but even if it did, the kid is barely hanging on.” he said, gesturing at El’s drooping form.

“How do we stop a dream demon though?” asked Yui.

The circle was quiet for a moment. Then Philip said “I might have something. It’s not a plan on its own, but it will probably help. My bell is modified through the use of what the West would call shamanistic symbols. Intention and symbolism is a large aspect of it. I know of a rune that indicates an… alliance. A unity of purpose. I think if I applied it to you and you fell asleep holding hands, it could serve to put you into the same dream, or at least split Krueger’s attention between you.”

Cheryl looked up and began to write something on a piece of paper, shooing away questions. “Anybody else have anything?” asked Quentin to a chorus of “No”s and a “Maybe” from Cheryl. “Okay… sounds like Philip’s runes are our plan then. Are we all going in?”

The Survivors nodded, and Philip began prying open a xerox machine and digging out the ink. “I’ll go too.” piped up El. “As bait. I need to sleep anyway.”

The Survivors looked around at each other, but nobody voiced any objections. They cleared out a circle on the floor after pushing the desks, Jeff, Jane, and Hopper to the side. As he began painting the symbols onto their heads with his finger, Philip noticed a piece of paper in Cheryl’s hand, but decided now was not the time to ask about it. When the symbols were done, the Survivors took their neighbors’ hands, and closed their eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: the dream sequence. 
> 
> Also, just a reminder that I'm still looking for a better title than "Horrors in Hawkins" so lemme know if you think of one!
> 
> See you soon ;)


	12. Remember Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Survivors face Freddy Krueger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: Remember how I said Krueger is his own content warning? This is where that really comes into play. There will be a more detailed content warning in the end notes if you're unsure. Freddy is a sadistic child rapist who delights in violating others and revels in their pain. 
> 
> IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ THIS CHAPTER skip down to the paragraph that begins with "Cheryl Mason opened her eyes" and read from there to get the critical elements of the story.

El Hopper opened her eyes and looked around. She was standing in some place that reminded her of the Void, but it was a dark, bloody red instead of seamless black. She heard a low, ominous chuckle echo in her ears, and whirled around. She jumped when she saw a man standing just inches behind her. He wore jeans and a striped sweater with a fedora, but what El really notice was his skin. His face looked warped and pockmarked, an angry red color rather than any natural skin tone. And on his right hand was some sort of gauntlet with blades on every finger except the thumb.

“Hello little girl. I’m Freddy Krueger.” he whispered in her ear. With a scream, El tried to hurl him away telekinetically. But nothing happened. “That won’t work in here, girlie. This is my world. And now, you’re gonna be my bitch. Do you know what that means? No? Well you’ll find out soon enough.”

Freddy licked the tip of his finger before placing it under El’s chin and angling her face towards him. El was startled when it burned like the time she accidentally touched the end of one of Hopper’s cigarettes. “You see, I’m going to hurt you, El. Then I’m going to fuck you. And then I’m going to kill you. And there’s nothing you can-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then El woke up.

Meg Thomas opened her eyes and looked around. She was in her high school locker room. Meg turned as the door opened, and she expected to see the other members of her high school track team. But Freddy Krueger walked in instead. “Hello Megan!” he spat. “I remember you. You’re really good at running, aren’t you? Well guess what? You can’t run from me here. Not really. You and your little friends made a big mistake in coming here together. I was just waiting for Quentin and El. But now you’ve gone and gotten yourself involved. And who am I to deny myself such a luscious piece of ass?”

Meg turned and ran towards the gym, but the bank of lockers kept getting longer and longer and the door never got any closer. “I told you Megan, you can’t run from me here. I’m going to rape you, and then I’m going to-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Meg woke up.

Claudette Morel opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a greenhouse, but all the plants were withered and dead. She bent down to examine a shriveled flower, when the middle turned into a mouth and a too-long tongue reached out towards her and she barely avoided it licking her face.

“Well, well, Claudette Morel.” Freddy’s voice echoed around her. “I’m not sure I’ve had the pleasure of fucking a black girl before.” A vine behind Claudette turned into a sweater-clad arm and grabbed her neck. “You shouldn’t have come here girlie. I only wanted two. Now you and all your little friends are gonna be my bitches. I should really be thanking you. But now-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Claudette woke up.

Jake Park opened his eyes and looked around. He was sitting at the dining room table of his parents’ house, in a suit and tie. Annoyed and confused, Jake stood to leave, when his parents walked in.

“Oh, Jake, you can’t leave yet! The party’s just about to start!” said Jake’s father, and suddenly chains shot out of the ground and wrapped around Jake’s arms, pulling him back into his seat.

“The cake hasn’t even arrived yet! Surely you like cake, Jake?” his mother said, and then two faceless men with aprons and chef hats were wheeling a giant cake, larger than Jake or his parents, into the dining room. “Go on sweetie, have a slice of cake!”

Suddenly the cake was right in front of him. Then the front of the cake exploded in a burst of frosting and Freddy Krueger was leaning through, and Jake could unfortunately see he was shirtless. “Hiya Jakie! You ready to party?” said Krueger as he leered at Jake. “We’re gonna have such a good time! All your friends and family are gonna be here to see-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Jake woke up.

Nea Karlsson opened her eyes and looked around. She was in her childhood bedroom, back home in Sweden. She excitedly stood up and went towards the door, when it suddenly flew open and Freddy walked in. “Not so fast, bitch.” he said as the door slammed shut behind him without him touching it. “I don’t see any reason for you to get out of bed for what we’re about to do. Or rather, for what I’m about to do to you.” ropes shot out of her bed and yanked Nea back onto it.

“Poor little girl. Never felt at home in the US, and I doubt you’re gonna feel safe in here after we’re through. Maybe I’ll even let you live to deal with the trauma. Wouldn’t that be nice? Never let it be said I’m not kind to-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Nea woke up.

David King opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a boxing ring, lights focused on him. And in the opposite corner was Freddy Krueger. With a wordless battlecry David leapt towards Krueger, slamming his fists into Freddy’s face. But Krueger just stood there, grinning, and David’s fists ached as it felt like he was hitting solid stone.

“Poor little David.” Freddy taunted as the Englishman pummeled him to no avail. “Always looking for the next fight, the next win. Why is that, I wonder? Do you have something to prove, David? Afraid of what people would think if they knew you were a queer?”

David hit Freddy harder and harder, his knuckles bleeding and likely broken. “Don’t worry Davey, I can have fun with boys too. And we’re going to have so much fun toge-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then David woke up.

Laurie Strode opened her eyes and looked around. She was sitting on the front porch of an all too familiar house, with a jack-o-lantern sitting on the railing. 

“Hello Laurie.” She turned to see Freddy walking out the front door of her house. She glared at him and a knife appeared in her hand.

“Ooh, look at you, manipulating the dream first try! I don’t even think you were trying to. Bravo!”

While he was talking, Laurie rushed forwards and sunk the knife into his chest. Freddy backhanded her across the face with his gauntlet while his other hand casually plucked the knife out of his chest. “Oh you’ve got guts bitch, I’ll give you that. But this is my world. I rule here. So now we’re gonna have some fun, and I’m gonna make sure it-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Laurie woke up.

Ace Visconti opened his eyes and looked around. He let out a gasp as he realized he was falling. He was falling and falling and oh god he couldn’t even see the ground shit oh shit-

Freddy Krueger appeared next to him, looking like he was standing on solid ground despite having nothing underfoot. “Falling, Visconti? You’re afraid of heights? I expected something a little more… unique.” Freddy mused as Ace’s screams of terror were torn from his mouth by the wind. “It’s a shame I prefer them younger than you. A lot younger. We might have had some fun, once upon a time. But now I guess I’m just going to let you fall until I get bored of listening to you scream. Farewell, Vis-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Ace woke up.

Feng Min opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a church, wearing a wedding dress, and walking down the aisle. And standing at the altar was Freddy Krueger. Her legs wouldn’t listen as she tried to turn and run, but instead continued forward until she was standing next to Freddy.

“Aww, you’re looking beautiful today!” Freddy said with faux sincerity. “I hope you’re ready to marry the man of your dreams!” he continued with a chuckle. Min just stood there, frozen in terror and panic. “Aww, what’s wrong honey? Not afraid of commitment, are you? Or is the problem that I’m an icky boy? Well guess what bitch! I’m your husband now, Min, and none of that-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Min woke up.

Quentin Smith opened his eyes and looked around. His stomach churned as he recognized the nook he was in underneath his old preschool. He stood up, ready to fight, when a hand clapped over his mouth from behind him.

“Hi there Quentin. Remember me? Ol’ Freddy? Yeah you do. Remember how much fun we used to have?”

Then Quentin gasped as he felt gauntlet blades dig into his arm. “Remember your dad, Quentin? He killed me. Burned me to death. And you’re gonna pay for that after I bring you back. But as long as I’ve got you here, I think we should have a reprieve of your preschool days. For old times’ sake, you kn-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Quentin woke up.

David Tapp opened his eyes and looked around. He was tied up on the floor of that damn meat plant. He felt a kick in his ribs and heard a voice call out. “Well, Detective, so good of you to join your friends! Unfortunately, I’ve got places to be” Tapp felt four blades poke his neck “and you’re just not my type. But I do hold grudges. So I’ll make sure this is special for you.”

Tapp winced as a reverse bear trap appeared on his head. He turned his head to watch as Freddy walked away, laughing, while the timer began to beep.

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Tapp woke up.

Kate Denson opened her eyes and looked around. She was seated at a table in a plain white room. In front of her was a plate of spaghetti, covered in sauce and meatballs. She blinked and suddenly Krueger was sitting across from her, with a napkin tucked into his collar and his own plate of food.

“Hello there Ms Denson.” he said as he speared a meatball on one of his claws. “Interesting little fear you have here. So many worries and insecurities rolled together. You can’t eat, because you’ll get fat, and your fans won’t like you anymore, and you’ll die poor and forgotten.” Freddy popped the meatball into his mouth and swallowed it before continuing. “But imagine if your fans found out that the legendary Kate Denson had anorexia! Your reputation would be ruined! So now we’re here. You’re terrified of anyone, even your little Survivor friends, finding out your little secret. But you’re also scared of gaining weight. Too scared to ask for help, and too weak to fix it yoursel-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Kate woke up.

Adam Francis opened his eyes and looked around. He realized with a start he was chained to a wall. He tried tugging a hand free but the chains were heavy and tight.

“Hello there.” Adam winced as Freddy materialized in front of him. “I’m not quite sure what to do with you. Always needing to be in control, to have something to do, to have power over the situation. Tell me Adam, why did you come here knowing I would take all of that away from you? You’re a clever man, you should have known there’s no beating me at my own-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Adam woke up.

Steve Harrington opened his eyes and looked around. Writhing on the ground in front of him were the six members of the Party, coughing and vomiting. Steve felt a clawed hand on his shoulder.

“Looks like the kiddos ate something nasty, doesn’t it?” Freddy’s voice echoed in his ear. “Don’t worry though. I’ve got an antidote here.” He pressed a vial into Steve’s hand. “I’m afraid it only serves one though. But you can still save one! You just have to choose.”

Steve looked at the vial in his hand. Then he turned around and swung his fist at Freddy’s face. “Oh, Harrington. Is this your first time finding a problem you can’t punch?” Freddy said as he faded into dust as Steve hit him and reappeared on his other side. “Here, I’ll make it easier. I know how hard choosing favorites can be. Imagine if you’d asked me who my favorite kid to fuck was? Here” Freddy gestured and the vial in Steve’s hand turned into five. “Now you just need to pick who dies, not who lives. Aren’t I just the-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Steve woke up.

Nancy Wheeler opened her eyes and looked around. She was sitting in her dining room at the place her mother usually sat. Four places were set out. Then Freddy Krueger walked through the door and stood across from her.

“Hmm, this is interesting. Similar scene, different issues entirely. What’s wrong with this picture Nancy? Where’s the rest of the happy family? They’re gone, aren’t they Nancy. Hubby’s pulling another long night at the office. Kids are off at their friends’ houses. And that just leaves you. Alone, out of the loop, wondering where everything went wrong. Just like your mo-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Nancy woke up.

Yui Kimura opened her eyes and looked around. The first thing she realized was that she was naked. Vulnerable. The second thing she noticed was that Freddy Krueger was standing in front of her with an army of faceless, leering men behind him.

“Ah, it’s great when they hate what I love!” Freddy said, leaning in. “Look at you. Exposed. Helpless. You’re completely at my mercy. But I don’t know if Quentin told you, but I don’t have any mercy. I’m gonna use you like a little bitch. You’re gonna hate it. And I’m gonna love that you hate it. And then when I’m done with you, I’ll leave you bleeding in the dirt, broken and-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Yui woke up.

Zarina Kassir opened her eyes and looked around. An icy wind bit into her cheeks and she stood up, knee-deep in snow. She squinted as the sunlight glared off the endless field of snow, stretching as far as she could see in every direction.

She heard the crunch of footsteps approaching and turned around to see Freddy. “Not exactly dressed for the cold, are you?” he called out. “Then again, neither am I. But that’s not the point is it? No, you could be in the desert or the jungle or the mountains. The problem is you’re alone. All your life you’ve wanted attention, recognition. And now there’s nobody to give it to you. Don’t worry though, I’ll be back eventually. I’m just leaving you in cold storage, so to speak. And you’re a pretty little thing. So when I finally get around to it, I’ll give you all the atten-”

Then Freddy disappeared. And then Zarina woke up.

Cheryl Mason opened her eyes and looked around. Here she was. The elementary school. And at any second- yup.

Freddy Krueger walked through the door. Time to see if this would work. Looking up, Cheryl began to speak a language as old as fear itself. “Soul Shredder, Hope Ripper, Great Defiler” she called out using noises her throat was really not suited to make. Freddy was frozen, looking stunned. “I embrace our alliance. I offer my soul and my body as a willing sacrifice if you shall use your awesome power to tear asunder this wretch before me.”

“No way!” Freddy shouted before screaming in agony as he began to glow orange. He screamed as the orange glow became brighter and brighter, burning and squeezing and ripping and stabbing and  _ destroying _ . Cheryl looked on with a gentle smile as the roof opened up and dark, claw like tentacles reached down for her. Her last view before she was returned to the Realms was of Freddy turning a solid, brilliant orange before shattering into a million pieces and sending a shockwave through the dream world.

Philip was confused when he saw Cheryl’s mouth moving shortly after she fell asleep. Confusion turned to alarm when orange light began pouring out of Cheryl’s mouth. Philip moved to wake her when suddenly there was a flash of orange and suddenly Cheryl was gone and the other dreamers began to stir. Philip gawked at the empty spot on the floor before realizing Cheryl had been laying on that piece of paper from earlier. Philip picked it up and began to read.

_ Have an idea but don’t know if it will work. If it does it means I go back but Freddy dies. I’m not telling because you guys wouldn’t let me, but it’s not your decision to make.  _

__ _ I’m sorry. _

__ _ I love you all dearly. _

__ _ Wish me luck. _

__ _ -C.M. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: the more specific list of trigger warnings for this chapter is as follows: threats of rape (including against minors), allusions to child rape, agoraphobia, involuntary nudity, attempted sexual assault, and eating disorders. 
> 
> I know I touched on a lot of sensitive topics this chapter, but I didn't want to pull any punches with Freddy. If you think any other warnings should be added to the list above, please please PLEASE let me know. And if you don't like how I discussed a certain issue, please comment and let me know. I will totally tell you my thought process when writing it and may make changes if I think you have valid points.
> 
> I'm really nervous about posting this chapter.


	13. Iron Maiden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While everyone else is getting some much needed rest, Hopper, Jonathan, and Owens have a run in with the remaining members of the Legion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another shorter one, just wrapping up a few loose ends while everyone else is sleeping.

Jonathan Byers sat on the front steps of the Hawkins police station. To his left, Hopper was leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette. To his right, Doc Owens was fiddling with his pistol. Jonathan had a gun sitting in his lap as well. Not like he was much good with it, but it was better than nothing. Everyone else- the Survivors, the Party, even Joyce and Philip- was back inside the police station piled together and asleep now that it was safe. Jonathan had no idea how Steve managed to breathe with the weight of six kids piled on top of him, but Jonathan had it admit it was pretty cute.

Hopper was fiddling with the Redeemer, the speargun the Deathslinger had apparently left Hopper. Hopper’s shoulder was nowhere near healed, and would likely never be the same, but he insisted he was fit to keep watch while people slept and said he was too antsy to sleep anyways.

“So what’s our next move?” Owens asked suddenly. “Do we wait for them or go on the offense?” Hopper sighed, exhaling a cloud of smoke, and Jonathan pulled out the list of killers Adam had made while he was asleep.

“Probably go on the offense.” replied Jonathan. “From what I’ve heard, we don’t want these things on the loose any more than is strictly necessary. Maybe they’ll go after the Clown? He’s apparently one of the weaker ones, and I think they’ve kind of implied he has a sexual creepiness that we probably want to get rid of ASAP. After that? No idea. I don’t even know if they’ll let me come.”

“Hey, do you recognize those three?” Hopper suddenly asked, pointing at three teens smoking in front of a store across the street.

Jonathan regarded them for a second. “No…” he said before standing up and drawing his gun. “Think they’re the buddies of the guy who killed Dwight?” he asked as Owens stood up as well.

“Shit, I think they noticed us.” Joey muttered to Julie.

“What do we do now?” Susie asked in a panicked whisper.

“Just stay cool. Follow my lead. Let me do the talking.” Julie replied as she stood up.

“Alright, that’s close enough.” Hopper called when the two trios were both standing on the curb of opposite sides of the street. “Who the hell are you?”

“We are the Legion. We’ve come to bargain.” Julie replied, surprised that her voice held as steady as it did when there were two pistols and a fucking speargun pointed at her.

“Alright, I’ll bite. What do you fuckers want?” Hopper said.

“We’re here for Frank.”

“The little shit who killed Dwight? Sorry, but you’re too late.”

“What do you mean?” asked Joey.

“I killed him.” Hopper said with a shrug. “He was a murderer and a threat. If it makes you feel any better, I waited until he was sleeping. Made it quick, bullet in the head. Though I was half tempted to make him suffer like Dwight did.”

“You’re lying.” Julie accused, but her voice was wavering. “You’re a cop. You can’t just kill people.”

Hopper scoffed. “Canadian, right? Let me tell you a little something about being police chief in small town America. As long as the state doesn’t get involved, there’s not much you can’t do. And really, who’s gonna miss another maniac with a knife? Especially with all these other knife wielding maniacs running around. So I’m gonna refuse your deal and offer you one of my own. You drop your knives and run on back to that portal and I won’t kill you where you stand. That sound all right to you?”

“You can’t- you- you’re insane!” sputtered Susie. Hopper leveled the Redeemer at her.

“Sure am! Wanna see just how crazy ol’ chief Hopper can get?”

The three remaining Legion members looked at each other. After a moment of hesitation, they dropped their knives and ran. Hopper chuckled as he sat back down in front of the police station.

“Why’d you lie to them about killing Frank?” asked Doctor Owens as Hopper lit another cigarette.

Hopper shrugged. “Didn’t wanna fuck around with negotiations. I figured I’d give them a chance to run before I started killing teens.” he replied casually as he blew a puff of smoke into the warm summer air. “Besides, if these bastards can lie to us, why can’t I lie to them?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please tell me what you think or if you have any requests Next! Next chapter should have some more killer hunting action! Not entirely sure who though.


	14. Alert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Survivors go after the Oni and the Spirit. Steve takes the kids 'shopping'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Eleven hundred more words to set up next chapter! I know this is another short, connecting piece, but the next chapter will be like a certain element of the human anatomy: very long and filled with blood.

“So basically, we girls are going after the Spirit while the boys handle the Oni?” Yui asked, recapping fifteen minutes of discussion and arguing about next steps after the survivors had awoken from their naps that evening.

“What about Melvald’s?” asked Dustin (the Party had refused to be left out of the planning session). 

“Listen here you little shit,” Steve said playfully ruffling Dustin’s curls “I’ll take you gremlins to Melvald’s if you promise to stay within view and don’t use the fireworks unless you don’t have any other option.”

“GUYS! HE SAID YES!” Dustin shouted as he hugged the rest of the Party.

“I said yes  _ conditionally _ !” Steve said with a sigh. “Guess I’m gonna sit the Oni-hunting out, guys.”

“I’ll go.” Jonathan piped up from where he was leaning against the wall.

“You sure, mate?” David asked.

“I said I’ll go. Besides, I know how to navigate around here. Now both groups have a local” he nodded to Nancy “and a translator.” he turned to Adam and Yui.

“Where do I fit into all this?” asked Hopper.

“You,” replied Owens with a glare “are going to stay right here and rest. Nobody with a hole in their shoulder should be fighting an Ono.”

“Oni!” Yui corrected with an eye roll.

“Besides, what if Frank escapes and you have to kill him for real?” Owens added.

“What am I doing in all this?” asked Joyce.

“I could use another pair of hands around here if you don’t mind, Joyce.” Owens added. “And someone to keep an eye on this one.” he added in a whisper-yell while jerking a thumb at Hopper.

“You don’t need to babysit me…” Hopper grumbled.

“Then why are you acting like a baby?” Owens replied. “Just lay down and let your body fix itself. Honestly it’s a small miracle you’re conscious right now, nevermind standing up and speaking coherently.

“I’ll stay here too.” Joe piped up from the back of the room. “I don’t think monster hunting is really in my wheelhouse.”

“Well then, everyone knows where they’re going?” Meg asked. Everyone nodded. “Then let’s go!”

“Any idea why she was hanging around the car dealership?” Kate asked as the female Survivors spread out with flashlights and weapons ready. Laurie shrugged as she ran a finger down the blade of the bonesaw she had confiscated from Max, who had naturally taken it from the Nurse’s body.

“So guys… how are we gonna stop her?” Claudette asked as she panned her flashlight around the lot. 

“We kill her. Duh.” answered Meg with an easy smile.

“Yeah, but it looks like somebody’s already tried that and it didn’t work. I mean, I don’t doubt Laurie could cut her in half, I just don’t know if it would actually do anything.”

“Wing it?” offered Meg. “Maybe we have to destroy the brain? Like a zombie? She looks kind of like a zombie.”

“Not a zombie. Yūrei.” Yui said.

“Wassat?” asked Meg.

“A ghost, basically.” Yui replied. “How many zombies disappear and reappear behind you?”

“Shit. Good point. Okay, how many of you have seen  _ Ghostbusters _ ?”

“I don’t think we can fight the Spirit with a vacuum cleaner, Meg.” Zarina chimed in.

“It’s not a vacuum cleaner, it’s- ugh, forget it.”

“So Yui, how does one go about getting rid of a yūrei?” asked Laurie.

Yui shrugged. “Either complete the burial rites or resolve their emotional conflict, depending on why they haven’t moved on. Given how angry our blue skinned friend always looks, I’m guessing it’s gonna be the latter.”

“So wait, we’ve got to help her, not fight her?” asked Meg.

Yui shrugged again. “I haven’t actually researched Buddhist ghost removal in the context of battling the pawns of an extra-dimensional spider demon, okay? Maybe we can fight her, maybe we can help her, maybe both are options! Maybe neither is! Just because I’m the Japanese girl doesn’t mean I have an encyclopedic knowledge of my country’s culture, customs, and superstitions!” Yui finished with a shout. 

“Shh, stop yell- AHHHH!” Min’s whisper turned into a shout as the Spirit appeared right behind Yui.

“So how do you have this encyclopedic knowledge of Japanese culture, customs, and superstitions?” Jonathan asked Adam as he pulled his car into the empty parking lot in front of what was going to eventually be the Starcourt Mall but was currently a big pit with materials and construction equipment scattered in and around it.

“Well, Japanese culture isn’t super accepting of foreigners, so before I moved there I made sure to do my homework on the place so that I wouldn’t stick out any more than I already do.”

“Makes sense.” Jonathan nodded as he got out of the car. “So how do we find this guy?”

“Shouldn’t be too hard.” Ace said as he climbed out of Hopper’s truck and clicked off the safety on the shotgun. “He’s kinda hard to miss. Apparently he killed some dude-bro who was out here smoking with his friends. The description they called with was… vivid. But we only know one samurai body-builder with a habit of ripping people’s tongues out, so here we are.”

“With guns!” Quentin added, brandishing one of the pistols from the station.

“With guns.” agreed Ace. “Are you usually this chipper when you’ve actually gotten sleep?”

Quentin nodded with a light blush. “ADHD. Now let’s go kill this bitch before I accidentally shoot myself.”

“That’s what the safety is- INCOMING” Jake shouted as he dove towards the ground as a car-sized length of concrete tube came sailing towards their heads.

“Hey, Dustin, stay where I can see you bud. Stay where I can- Mike, the explosives go in the bags, not your pockets, I don’t care if it’s just a little one, okay? Where’d El- EL, WE’RE HERE FOR BOMBS, NOT EGGOS! Dustin, what’s that in your pockets? Is that- Dustin, put the candy back, this is serious. Lucas I don’t care how cool it would be to shoot a firework out of your slingshot, it goes in the bag! This isn’t a game guys, we’re here for your stupid fireworks idea and then we’re going back to the station. Jesus Christ you guys, this is why it’s so hard to convince me to take you anywhere.”

The Clown grinned to himself as he lurked back in the storeroom. 

“Alright, we’ve got everything out here- El, sweetie, what did I say about the Eggos- let’s do a quick scan of the backroom and see if there’s anything there, then head back.”

The Clown’s smile widened, taking on a predatory gleam. Showtime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!
> 
> Also if you're wondering who the teen was that got killed by the Oni, it was Billy. That's not important for the story, it's just that fuck Billy.
> 
> Also, a thought occurred to me. I was planning on having the 3 fights I set up here all be in one big chapter. But I could also go one chapter apiece and be a bit more detailed. Let me know which you would prefer!


	15. Rancor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Spirit vs Meg, Claudette, Min, Kate, Nancy, Yui, and Zarina.

Yui rolled forward at Min’s shout, coming to her feet to see some of her hair fluttering to the ground in front of the Spirit where her sword had cut through it. Min swore loudly in Madarin before raising her rifle and firing. A new hole appeared in the Spirit’s forearm and the windshield of the car behind her exploded, but the Spirit gave no indication she even noticed it.

“How do we kill it!?!? I need ideas!” Shouted Min as she ducked behind a Ford to reload. 

Yui tried to think even as the Spirit took another swing at her and she only barely managed to block it with her harpoon looted from the Deathslinger. She sloppily parried a few more before she heard another gunshot ring in her ears and the Spirit’s neck burst open.

“I said headshots, not neckshots!” shouted Meg from where she and Zarina were hiding behind a Chrysler. 

“You try it then!” Nancy yelled back in frustration as she fired twice more. One shot hit the Spirit’s sword, which shattered before immediately reforming, and the other missed entirely and hit the Chrysler, which began leaking gasoline onto the ground.

“Holy fuck! I’m sorry, okay?” cried Meg as she and Zarina scurried away from the damaged car.

“Wait a minute, does anyone have a lightAHHH” Yui’s question turned into a scream as the Spirit’s sword cut into her thigh. Yui fell to the ground and the Spirit followed up her attack with a blow that slashed straight through the forearm Yui raised to defend herself.

“Hey blue balls! Over here!” Meg shouted as she threw her harpoon at the Spirit. The spear bounced harmlessly off the Spirit’s side, but the spirit stopped attacking Yui, standing in place and twitching. 

Everyone was as quiet as possible as they prepared for the Spirit to reappear. Meg had silently dashed over to another car and Claudette was at Yui’s side tending to her wounds, which luckily weren’t bleeding. Yui would never be thankful to the Entity since it was that thing’s fault she was injured in the first place, but she would begrudgingly admit that having a few minutes of not bleeding could probably make the difference between living and dying in the real world.

Then the Spirit reappeared on the other side of the car Meg was behind, bending down with her hands underneath the car. 

“MEG LOOK OUT!” Zarina screamed. Meg leaped forwards as the Spirit flipped the car over with an angry cry.

Yui could have sworn that time moved in slow motion for a moment. Meg was scrambling forwards as the weight of the car rolled towards her. Someone screamed. Yui wished she could do something as the car tipped over and Meg’s calves and feet were crushed underneath the roof of the car.

“Fire.” Yui gasped as everything came back into focus. Claudette was taking off her shirt and tearing it into pieces to bandage Yui with. “Burn her. Cremation.”

“Burn her!” repeated Claudette to the rest of the group.

“I’ve got a lighter! Just maneuver her into the gas puddle!” Nancy shouted as the Spirit drew her sword and lunged at Zarina. She parried a few strikes with her harpoon while backing towards the leaking Chrysler when suddenly the broken glass from the windshield that was shattered by Min’s rifle shot flew towards Zarina.

Zarina cried out as the chunks of glass slammed into her, some becoming lodged in flesh and bone while others sliced through her and went rocketing off into the night sky. She let out a gurgling cry as she fell backwards into the puddle of gasoline. The Spirit stood over her and slashed Zarina’s broken body again and again as the other girls looked on in horror.

Then Nea jumped into action, ramming her harpoon through the Spirit’s back. “Nancy! Lighter!” Laurie shouted as the Spirit whirled around and slammed the heel of her hand into Nea’s chest, sending the Swede stumbling backwards and coughing. Nancy tossed her lighter towards Laurie, who reached out to catch it.

“Got- wait. Shit!” Laurie said as the brass contraption slipped through her fingers. Fortunately, the Spirit was standing still and twitching again, directly in the middle of the gas puddle. Diving after the lighter, Laurie’s fingers scrabbled at it before flicking it open and igniting a flame.

The fire spread quickly across the puddle of gas, forming a pool of flame around the Spirit and Zarina’s body. Then, near Nancy, the air seemed to burst into flames at the same time the Spirit’s physical husk caught alight. The husk disappeared and the Spirit reappeared next to Nancy, but fully covered in flames from head to toe. The Spirit let out a wail as the flames around her body burned white hot, melting the glass embedded in her and causing the skin the bubble. Yui could feel the heat of the flames from where she was laying as they became blindingly bright before there was a flash and the Spirit was gone, and in her place was a pile of ash.

The girls’ cheers were interrupted by a thundering boom as the Chrysler exploded. Fortunately, the fire didn’t seem to be spreading to any other cars.

“Guys” groaned Meg “I’m really glad we got the Spirit but I think I need to go to a fucking hospital.”

After Laurie and Nea found some crowbars (which they decided to keep as replacements for their tire iron and lost harpoon, respectively) and managed (with help from Kate, Nancy, and Min) to lever the car Meg was trapped under up enough for Claudette to drag their friend out, they got back into their cars. Nancy said she would drive Yui and Meg to the hospital the next town over while the others went back to the police station.

As they drove towards the edge of town, Meg mumbled to Yui “Was it just me or did it sound like she said something as she was dying? The Spirit, I mean?”

“I think so.” replied Yui. “Arigato. It means ‘thank you’.’”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Survivors are ending June with a bang! For anyone keeping track of the timeline, this is the night of June 30, part 1/3. As always, tell me what you think in the comments! Or just gimme an F for Zarina.


	16. Blood Echo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Oni vs Jake, David, Ace, Quentin, Tapp, Adam, and Jonathan.

After the group scattered from the Oni’s projectile, Jonathan stood up behind a barrel and took aim at the Oni, who was standing across the pit from the Survivors. He wasn’t entirely surprised to see none of his shots hit. Ducking back down to reload, Jonathan peeked out to take stock of where everyone else was. Adam was a few feet away with his Deathslinger spear. Quentin was hiding behind a pile of I-beams and also seemed to be reloading his own pistol, while Ace and Tapp were cautiously approaching the Oni. There was nothing cautious in David’s approach however, as he had his brass knuckles on and jumped into the muddy pit to charge the Oni. 

Jonathan watched as the Oni jumped into the pit to confront David, drawing his sword as he did. Amazingly (in Jonathan’s opinion) David was not immediately killed, knocking aside the Oni’s sword strike with a brass-protected blow from his left first while he slammed the other into the Oni’s washboard abs. Jonathan swore he heard the Oni laugh as he grabbed David by the neck and lifted him into the air. David responded by kicking the Oni squarely in the nose. 

The Oni groaned, and Jonathan winced as the Oni flung David away. The solidly built fighter flew a good ten feet through the air before skidding another five in the mud. The Oni did not stop his assault however, swinging his katana at David as he tried to climb to his feet and forcing him to roll back into the mud to avoid losing his head. But the Oni followed that up immediately by plunging his sword through David’s thigh and into the mud below.

Jonathan saw David screaming in pain, but couldn’t hearing over the sound of gunshots. He and Quentin didn’t have an angle where they felt confident they could shoot at the Oni without hitting David, but Jonathan saw the Oni stumble backwards as a few holes appeared in his chestplate. With a roar, the Oni dashed towards the edge of the pit before jumping out and landing in front of Tapp, whose pistol was still drawn and smoking.

“Fuck!” Tapp shouted as he ducked out of the way of the Oni’s left hook, which left a basketball-sized dent in the front of the steam roller Tapp had been standing in front of. He followed this up with a swing of his kanabo which Tapp barely managed to dodge, though he dropped his pistol in the process. The Oni gave Tapp a brutal kick in the ribs as the detective tried to stand. Tapp fell back into the dirt with a cry of pain, and the Oni raised his club.

“Over here, ugly!” Ace shouted as he fired the shotgun into the Oni’s back from where he stood in front of a crane. The Oni roared and prepared to dash towards his new target. Jonathan watched in a mixture of awe and horror as Ace stood his ground, firing at the Oni, while the killer rushed towards him with inhuman speed. Jonathan squeezed his eyes shut as the Oni closed the difference between himself and the gambler, and Ace made no move to get out of the way.

Jonathan felt the thud as much as he heard it. Tears leaked out of his eyes; Ace was dead and Tapp and David were as good as-

“Did I get him?” Jake shouted, and Jonathan looked up to see the saboteur hop out of the driver’s seat of the crane. 

Two gunshots rang out. “Well if wasn’t dead before he sure is now!” Ace replied as he began reloading his shotgun. In front of him, covered in what appeared to be the remains of a broken pallet loaded with bricks, was the Oni.

“And THAT is how you drop a pallet on someone!” crowed David as he staggered up the side of the pit, holding the Oni’s katana.

“Jesus Christ David, how the hell are you standing?” asked Jonathan as he walked over to the others.

“It’s all in the attitude Johnny Boy! I don’t give a fuck about dying and dying don’t give a fuck about me!”

“I don’t think that’s how death works.” Quentin said as he walked over to Tapp.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Jake asked as Quentin looked him over and tenderly prodded his side.

“At least one broken rib, probably internal bleeding and/or a punctured lung. Adam and I are good medics, but not  _ that _ good; he needs a hospital.”

“I can take him.” volunteered Jonathan “The closest one is the next town over, I know the way.”

“Are you gonna keep that?” Adam asked David with a glance at the katana as they helped load Tapp into the backseat of Jonathan’s car.

“‘Course I am! He left it in my leg before he went and died, therefore I won the fight, therefore it’s mine by right o’ conquest.”

“You British and your right of conquest…” muttered Adam.

“Oi! This ain’t colonialism! This is finders keepers! Besides, this might not quite be my style, but I reckon it’s a lot more effective than me knuckle dusters were.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The night of June 30th, part 2/3. Feel free to congratulate me in the comments for not killing off any Survivors this chapter and getting two chapters out in one day. Or crucify me for not writing David well enough. I just like hearing from you guys.


	17. Babysitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Clown vs Steve, El, Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Max.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hawkins' grand finale for June! The night of June 30th, part 3/3.

Will and El were the first ones to go rushing into the backroom, and Steve immediately heard the tinkle of breaking glass. “Damnit guys, what did you-”

Then Steve heard an all too familiar laugh that sounded like it came from somebody hacking up a lung at the same time. Steve immediately dropped the sack of fireworks and burst into the backroom with his bat at the ready. He nearly tripped over Will lying on the ground in a cloud of pinkish-purple gas. The Clown had El thrown over his shoulder and Steve could tell they were likely both unconscious. 

Steve stepped forwards and swung the nail-bat into the Clown’s large belly with a meaty thwack. He pulled the bat out and took grim satisfaction in the blood covering some of the nails. Then Steve felt the wind get knocked out of him as he stumbled backwards into the wall, before realizing the Clown had thrown El at him. Steve dropped El as gently as he could, but really he was most concerned with ducking out of the way of the slash of the Clown’s knife. With El safely on the ground- or at least as safe as she could be with a bloodthirsty killer in the same room- Steve was able to deflect the Clown’s next attack with a swipe of the bat to his forearm. 

“Aww, here comes the babysitter!” taunted the Clown as he sidestepped another attack from Steve.

“You say that like it’s an insult.” Steve panted as he ducked a box that the Clown had grabbed off a shelf and whipped at his head. There was a crash as it hit the wall and cans of soup began rolling everywhere. He managed to get another hit in, this time on the Clown’s thigh, but then the Clown grabbed a toaster off the shelf and brought it down onto Steve’s head with a clang. Steve fell onto his hands and knees, dazed, and felt a kick connect with his gut and send him sprawling onto his back. He rolled out of the way as the Clown tried to stomp on his head, when suddenly a spray of red erupted from the Clown’s head.

For a moment Steve thought one of the kids had found a gun and shot the Clown, but then he realized that the red liquid wasn’t blood, but tomato soup. The Clown threw a bottle and Steve heard Lucas shout. But it gave Steve the moment he needed to get back on his feet and slam his bat into the Clown’s ribs.

The Clown spun around and Steve saw stars as his fist collided with the side of his head. Staggering backwards, Steve pushed himself off the wall and slammed his shoulder into the Clown’s gut. Hot blood squirted out of the holes Steve’s bat had left there and splashed Steve’s shirt as he planted his fist in the Clown’s jaw. It was the first of a flurry of punches that had the Clown stumbling backwards and spitting out blood. Steve’s bloody knuckles stung from the makeup that had gotten into the wounds but Steve barely felt it as he landed a final punch on the Clown’s nose with a sickening crunch.

Then Steve felt someone grab his arm and yank him to the ground. He heard a loud crash as his head hit the bare concrete floor of the storeroom.

“Mike! What did you do?” Dustin cried as he ran over to where Mike had pulled Steve out of the way of the large metal shelving unit Dustin and Max had pushed on top of the Clown.

“I saved him from your stupid plan!” Mike hissed as he knelt next to Steve. “You help him, I’ll go check on the others.”

Then the three of them heard the creaking of metal shifting and looked over to see the Clown pushing up the shelf he was trapped under. “SHIT!” whispered Dustin. “What do we do?”

Mike had already picked up the bat from where Steve had dropped it. He let out a cry as he smashed it into the Clown’s forehead. The killer let out a shout that turned into a grunt as his grip slipped and the shelf fell back onto his chest.

“Kids… what did you… HOLY HELL WHEELER PUT THE BAT DOWN!” Steve’s groans turned into a shout as he suddenly sat upright.

“Whoah whoah whoah it’s okay buddy you can go back to sleep, we got him.” Dustin reassured Steve as he tried to get the older teen to lay back down.

“I’m fine Dustin, El isn’t the only one with powers anymore. Wheeler. Bat. Now.” Steve said as he climbed to his feet, one hand tenderly probing the already-closing wound on the back of his head and the other held out for the bat, which Mike reluctantly returned. Steve leaned on it and had an odd expression on his face before spitting out a tooth along with a not insignificant amount of blood.

“Is he dead?” the four turned to see Will shakily standing up, the effects of the gas seeming to have worn off. 

“Sit down, I’ll go check.” replied Steve.

“I can stand, I’m f-” Will’s reassurances were cut off as he stumbled forward and was caught by Dustin and Mike.

“Like I said. Sit.” Steve repeated as he knelt down next to the Clown. “He’s still breathing. Were you the one who fucked up his forehead, Wheeler?” Mike nodded nervously, thinking for a second he was in trouble. “Not bad, kid.”

Mike definitely did not need praise, especially not from his sister’s ex boyfriend. Even if Mike would reluctantly admit to himself (and absolutely no one else) that Steve was kind of a badass. So he just tried to scowl at Steve’s compliment.

“Alright, Dustin, Mike, Max, get Will and the others out front. I’ll be there in a minute.” Steve said as he picked up the Clown’s knife.

Steve emerged from the backroom of Melvald’s to see his six kids (sure, they weren’t  _ his _ kids but they were probably the best family he had. He had definitely noticed that his own parents weren’t a part of the search party that freed him and the other Survivors from the lab.) huddled together. 

Max glanced down at Steve’s blood covered hands. “Did you-”

“Yes.” Steve cut her off. “I killed him.”

The kids looked at him with a mixture of awe and fear. “I will never give you shit about losing a fight again.” murmured Dustin. Steve sat down, leaning against a cooler full of ice cream, hung his head between his knees, and began to cry.

“Steve? Did he-” Max began but this time it was Dustin who interrupted her.

“How about you guys go make sure we didn’t miss any fireworks?” he suggested in a tone that indicated it wasn’t really a suggestion. The rest of the party nodded and left Dustin alone with Steve.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Dustin asked as he pulled Steve into a hug. Steve sniffled as he hugged the younger boy, and Dustin shivered as he felt Steve’s hands, hot and horribly sticky against his back.

“Dustin, should I have killed him?”

Dustin pulled back to look his mentor in the eye. “I don’t know.” Dustin said slowly “But I trust you. If you think it was the right thing, so do I. This doesn’t make you like them, Steve. Not by a long shot.”

“Thanks dude.” Steve muttered before reinitiating their hug. 

Dustin and Steve held each other for a few minutes before the rest of the party began to cautiously approach. Steve was glad to see Will had grabbed a box of tissues and Max had grabbed some bottles of water. Steve thirstily chugged one bottle in one go before pouring another over his hands to rinse off most of the fresh blood there.

“Steve, the bathroom is right over there, just go wash your hands.” Lucas suggested.

“Nah. Apparently I can’t let you shitheads out of my sight for literally two seconds without something bad happening.” Steve said with a weak chuckle.

“We’re sorry for making you worried even though it wasn’t our fault there was a killer clown back there.” Dustin said as he wrapped Steve in yet another hug. “You’re a damn good babysitter.”

“Bitchin’.” El agreed softly.

Another tear trickled out of Steve’s eye. But this time it wasn’t due to tiredness, guilt, trauma, or sadness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Dustin, why did you put all your experience points from fighting the Demogorgon and the Demo-Dogs into Maturity and Emotional Intelligence?"  
> "Look, Mike, I love Will like a brother and hope he never disappears again, but our emotional support has been out of commission for extended periods two times in as many years, and when your emotional support is out of commission is exactly when you need emotional support the most."  
> "What, you're saying you're gonna be a backup Will?"  
> "Don't be stupid Michael, I'm always gonna be Dustin, now I'm just also going to be support emotional support."


	18. Dying Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan and Nancy run into some trouble bringing their comrades to the hospital. Steve and Laurie have a chat they'll have to continue later.

Nancy was not sure which surprised her more: seeing a checkpoint manned by men with guns and hazmat suits on the road leading out of Hawkins, or seeing Jonathan at the checkpoint arguing with one of said men with guns and hazmat suits. Nancy pulled up next to Jonathan as she heard him say “-don’t care, this man will die without immediate medical attention!”

“I’ve got two more who need a hospital here.” Nancy interjected. 

“Oh! Nancy! Hi…” Jonathan said as a light blush rose to his cheeks.

“Another one? Jesus, just- hold on a second.” the guard said. He pulled out a radio and began talking to someone. “Hey, boss? This is Private Cruz, at Checkpoint B. I gotta couple of civilian vehicles with seriously injured people in them, what should I- Okay, okay. Sorry guys” the guard, Cruz apparently, said as he turned to the two teens “my boss is kicking this up the chain of command, nobody wants to be the one who makes the wrong call, you know how it is.”

The group stood around awkwardly for a few minutes before Cruz held up his radio again and listened for a few seconds. “Really? Brenner said that? I didn’t think- Yeah, yeah, of course. Good news guys!” Cruz said as he switched off his radio. “My dumbass bosses aren’t gonna let your friends die while they play bureaucratic hot potato! We, uh, can’t let you go to the civilian hospital, because there’s a possible biohazard in the area, but we’re taking your friends to a military hospital. I’ll lead the way, just follow me!” he said as he climbed into the driver’s seat of a green truck with a canvas cover over the bed.

So Jonathan and Nancy climbed back into their cars and followed their ‘escort’ out of Hawkins.

Jonathan sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair fiddling with a pen he had found in his jacket pocket. Cruz had led them to a hastily erected hospital camp, all large tents and single room buildings meant to be towed by trucks. After more hazmat-suited people whisked away Tapp, Meg, and Yui, Nancy and Jonathan were brought to one of the larger tents and sat down and told to wait until they could be ‘processed’.

And other than the ominous terminology, something was seriously worrying Jonathan. But he couldn’t put his finger on what...

“We’ve gotta get out of here. The others need us.” Nancy whispered to Jonathan as she glanced at their guard, who was currently reading a magazine and fidgeting with an unlit cigarette.

“Think they’ll let us go if we say ‘please’?” Jonathan whispered sarcastically.

“No… but they didn’t take our keys. We know where our cars are. They don’t want us to feel like prisoners. I’ve got an idea. Just play along.” Then Nancy began kissing Jonathan.

“Hey, knock it off. Fuckin teens…” said the guard before going back to his magazine.

Nancy, however, did not knock it off, and in fact climbed over the arm rests to sit in Jonathan’s lap.

“Hey, I’m serious, you two, I… really?” the guard trailed off as Nancy flipped him off without breaking the kiss. “Jesus fucking Christ. I’m gonna go somewhere where I can have a damn cigarette. I will be back in five minutes and if you two aren’t fucking separated by then I’m breaking out the goddamn taser.”

Nancy did not respond, busy as she was passionately making out with her boyfriend. Jonathan did not respond as he was passionately being made out with, and was generally confused about the whole situation. The guard walked off shaking his head in disgust. As soon as the tent flap was closed behind him Nancy broke the kiss and stood up, pulling out her keys.

“Nancy, what-” Jonathan began before Nancy clapped a hand over his mouth.

“Car now, talk later.” she whispered before pulling Jonathan towards the flap of the tent.

Laurie arrived back at the police station with Claudette, Nea, Min, and Kate to see the kids talking with each other quietly while Steve was talking with the people who stayed behind.

“Hey ladies!” Steve said as he turned to the new arrivals. “How’d it- oh no. Where’s Nancy? And Meg? And-”

“Nancy’s fine.” Min interrupted. “She’s taking Yui and Meg to the hospital. Zarina didn’t make it. Wait was I not supposed to say that in front of the kids?”

“They don’t need the sugar-coated version. They’ve seen shit get real before. Hell, they just saw me fight the Clown. Don’t mince your words on their account.”

“You fought the Clown? On your own? Are you okay?” Laurie asked worriedly.

“Yes, mostly, yes.” Steve said before lowering his voice and leaning in towards the other survivors. “Don’t tell Joyce but I probably would’ve died if I hadn’t gotten an assist or two from the Little League.”

“That’s one less killer to worry about! I’m just glad you and the kids are okay.” Kate said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Who knew you were almost as good at fighting monsters as you are at running away from them?” Laurie said teasingly.

“Why does everyone think I can’t win fights?” Steve said with a sigh and an exaggerated shake of his head.

“Aww, cheer up Stevie, I bet you could totally take one of the munchkins!” Laurie said, turning to look at the kids. Then she noticed they had all gone totally still and were staring at something out the window.

“M- Myers…” gasped Dustin.

Laurie whirled around and saw that across the street, standing under a streetlight that illuminated his mask extra eerily, was Michael Myers.

“What do we do?” asked Max in a panicked whisper.

“ _ You _ do nothing. It’s me he wants.” Laurie said as she picked up her crowbar and took the car keys from Kate. “I’m gonna split from you guys, distract him. It’s your best chance.”

“Laurie, listen, we can fight him! We-” Laurie silenced Steve with a quick peck on the lips.

“Your kids need you looking out for them, not getting gutted by my brother. Bye Steve.” Then Laurie walked out the door, got into a car, and drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good luck, Laurie! What do you guys think, will Laurie survive or will I kill her off so that I can write more vulnerable Steve?


	19. Overwhelming Presence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Owens feels stressed. Doctor Carter feels angry. Doctor Brenner probably doesn't feel emotions.

“I still can’t believe Michael Myers is real…” Lucas whispered as everyone hung around the police station, talking in small groups. The male survivors who escaped the fight at the Starcourt lot had arrived shortly after Laurie left, and Nancy and Jonathan had arrived a few minutes ago.

“I know… Never thought that would be the Michael who would try to stab me.” Steve replied. “Speaking of which, since you little shits keep getting into trouble I figure someone might as well take this as a last resort.” he continued, holding up the Clown’s knife. “Now here’s the deal: of you six, I trust Will’s judgement the most (“Hey!” shouted Max, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas) but I think I trust Max’s fighting skills the most (“HEY!” shouted Dustin, Mike, and Lucas). So I’m giving this to Will to hold on to for Max until he thinks she needs it.”

Will solemnly accepted the knife as the other children (minus El) began a chorus of whining, complaining, and pleading. “Don’t gimme that, besides, I know-”

Steve was interrupted by a shout of “BRENNER!?!?” from across the room where Nancy and Jonathan were talking with Joyce and Hopper. The shout in question had come from Hopper, who was now storming towards Owens, who sat up from where he had been napping at a desk with a confused snort.

“This should be good.” muttered Dustin as Hopper shook the doctor awake with more vigor than was strictly necessary.

“You lied Owens! You said Brenner was dead!” Jim shouted at the scientist, who now looked very nervous.

“Listen, Jim, I can explain. I never said-”

“You definitely let us believe Brenner was dead!”

“Because I was specifically ordered to!” Owens said, his voice a mixture or regret and anger. “I replaced Brenner as director of the lab, but not as director of the program in general. And he said it would be best for me to let you assume he was dead. I wanted to tell you, Jim, but Brenner is a paranoid psychopath! Believe me, I wish Brenner had died in the middle school, but I guess even death has standards and that bastard didn’t make the cut!” Owens continued, his volume growing as Hopper began to look uncomfortable. “And do I need to remind you who got El’s papers in order? Brenner would kill me without a second thought if he ever found out I did that, and he’s always looking for new test subjects! I’ve been working on the most classified pipe dreams the government has funded since the Manhattan Project, so forgive me for not being particularly trusting! You know what Brenner wanted to do when I gave him the vaguest of details on the situation here? He wanted to level the whole damn town with artillery!” Brenner paused and took a few deep breaths before continuing. “I’m sorry Jim, I shouldn’t have raised my voice. I’ve… well, this situation has everybody stressed, and I’m sorry I took it out on you there. But yes, Brenner is alive and still running Project Awakening. I would apologize for misleading you, but frankly I can’t regret avoiding unnecessary risks.”

“It- I’m sorry too. I started the shouting. I didn’t realize you hated Brenner as much as I do.” Jim said sheepishly.

“Water under the bridge?” offered Owens, and Jim nodded with a smile. “Good. I’ve always wanted someone to bitch about my asshole roommate turned colleague turned boss.”

“Two questions.” interjected Nancy. “One: roommates? Two: Project Awakening?”

“Brenner is a sucker for dramatic sounding names, and once the public got a hold of the words ‘MK Ultra’ we had to rebrand to help avoid Freedom of Information Act requests. And the roommates thing a story for if we survive this whole mess.” Owens said as he sat back down and loosened his tie. “By the way, I’m glad you were able to put that recording to good use. Nice call not telling the  _ whole _ truth, too.”

“You knew we recorded you?” Nancy gasped.

“Of course I knew! Or at least suspected. What, you think we normally take reporters into top secret government research facilities without searching them? And besides, I’m not the type for dramatic monologues, that’s Brenner’s thing.”

Everyone relaxed again, the Party chatting amongst themselves, the Survivors making their grim plans with the other adults.

“Hey El, why are you messing with my hair?” Max asked the other girl as the redhead’s hair began to lift off her shoulders.

“I’m not.” El said with a frown. A look of fear came across Steve’s face.

“The Demogorgon never did anything like this…” Joyce said with a look of uncertainty.

“It’s not the Demogorgon.” Min said as a dark look came across her face. “It’s the Doctor.”

“Why would you think it’s me?” Owens asked with a frown.

“No,  _ the _ Doctor.” Min said.

“What do you-” Owens began to ask, but then there was a loud boom and everyone screamed.

Ace watched as the Doctor kicked open the door to the police station and strode inside. He raised his shotgun and fired a blast at the Doctor. He made a strange chittering grunt as the bullets hit him. Then the Doctor grabbed Ace’s shoulder and Ace felt himself bring the shotgun around in towards Jake jerky spasms before his hand clenched around the trigger and the Korean fell backwards as the shotgun rang out. Then Ace screamed again as the Doctor shoved him away with another blast of electricity and all Ace could do was scream and scream.

More shots rang out as Hopper fired his weapon, but not at the Doctor. Jeff and Jane twitched as the bullets hit them where they lay, still recovering from their earlier injuries.

“Hopper! He makes illusions!” Steve shouted as he slammed the bat into the Doctor’s side. The Doctor grabbed the bat, his hand on top of Steve’s, and the babysitter screamed as an electric shock flowed through him. He dropped the bat, then let out a cry as he grabbed a bundle of exposed wires on the Doctor’s arm and yanked as hard as he could. The Doctor let out a staticky, distorted scream as sparks flew out of the broken wires and danced across the floor. 

Claudette could see as well as feel the shockwave of electricity pulse out from the Doctor. Lightbulbs exploded and the TV in the corner switched from the muted news channel to grey static and deafening levels of white noise, interspersed with screams and laughter. Outside she heard car alarms shriek to life and the sirens of the remaining police vehicles begin to wail.

Then the Doctor stumbled back as David charged forwards and stabbed the Oni’s katana through his gut. The Doctor stepped on Steve’s bat, which had been set alight by the sparks, and dropped his own weapon as he yowled in pain. Then David landed a messy swipe at the Doctor’s head, which left a cut across the killer’s cheek and twisted and cracked parts of his headgear. The Doctor began shivering and chittering as he lay there and just twitched.

“Run!” shouted Kate and the remainder of the group dashed out the door (the Party dragging Steve except for Will, who had the Clown’s knife in one hand and the Doctor’s club in the other). As they left, they heard a low humming, rapidly growing in pitch and volume.

“What do you think-” began Nancy before there was an explosive boom. Time seemed to slow down as a spear of lightning burst through the roof of the police station and connected with the clouds. Everyone stared in awe for the briefest of moments. Then, in the blink of an eye their ears were filled with a ringing and the police station was a pile of smoldering rubble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's another killer down! Although man, I think the Doctor might hate people with J names almost as much as the Duffer Brothers hate people with B names. I mean seriously, they killed Benny, Barb, Bob, Betty, and Billy. Having a name that starts with a B is a death sentence in Hawkins.
> 
> Also, I'm thinking of going back and changing the chapter names to perk names if AO3 will let me. Would that be cool or stupid? Lemme know, as well as your general thoughts on the chapter or the fic in general. Your comments are my ambrosia!


	20. Territorial Imperative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything goes swell until it doesn't.

“So what do we do now?” Nea asked as everyone gazed at the rubble of the police station.

“Same thing we’ve been doing.” Adam said with a shrug as he laid out the map on the hood of Hopper’s truck. “We find them. We end them.”

“So who’s left?” Kate asked.

“Let’s see…” Quentin began. “Trapper’s been MIA the whole time, Philip is on our side, thank God (this earned him a small smile from the tall man beside him). Hillbilly is somewhere around the quarry. The Nurse is dead. Myers is after Laurie. The Huntress is off in the woods. We think the Hag has mostly been sticking to the outskirts of town. The Doctor just went boom. Leatherface is also keeping a low profile. Freddy’s dead, Pig’s dead, Clown’s dead, Spirit’s dead. Legion- oh shit that Legion guy was still in the basement when everything exploded. Do you think…”

“Probably dead. I’m not losing any sleep over it.” said Hopper. “And I ran off the punks who came looking for him.”

“Okay, so Legion is out of action.” continued Quentin. “Plague is still out there, Ghostface is Joe now. And then Demogorgon, Oni, Deathslinger, and Pyramid Head are all dead. So all we have left are Trapper, Hillbilly, Myers, Huntress, Hag, Leatherface, Plague, and… well, that’s it. Seven left. And only five seem active. Four if Laurie manages to kill Myers on her own.”

“How likely is that?” asked Philip.

“It’s Laurie.” replied Steve, and Philip nodded.

“Steve, I know you love her and all, but keep in mind, it’s Myers.” Max said.

“I mean, yeah, but… don’t underestimate Laurie, okay?”

“Notice that he didn’t deny loving her.” Dustin said in an extremely loud whisper to Lucas.

“Hey! I’m perfectly fine to let you shitheads embarrass me about my love life when that means you’re too busy to run headlong into imminent danger or when it keeps you from arguing with each other, but the current situation is neither of those!”

There was a beat of silence before Lucas said “Hey Mike, I’m gonna fight with you unless there’s some loser with big hair to make fun of.”   
“Hey Steve, I’m gonna go play in traffic, unless you’ve got something more fun for me to do?” Dustin added.

“Hey Steve, I’m bored, I’m either gonna make fun of you or go stick a fork in an electrical outlet.” Max interjected.

“And you kids wonder why I made Will the guardian of the knife…” 

“Guys! Focus! Who should we go after next?” Nancy asked the Party, causing Steve to smile and mouth “Thank you” at her.

“Wait… you’re letting us decide? What’s the catch?” asked Mike.

“The catch is you stay alive and follow orders.” grunted Hopper.

“I vote Plague!” shouted Dustin.

“No way dude she sounded gross. Let’s take down the Hillbilly!” replied Lucas.

“What did Hopper just say?  _ You  _ little shits aren’t taking down anyone.” Steve reminded them.

“Fine, then let’s go for the Plague and laugh when Steve gets puke in his hair!” suggested Max.

“Remind me why the hell I care about you fuckers again?”

“Because we’re charming and adorable and you’re lonely.” Dustin said with a smile. “Wait fuck I wasn’t supposed to say that last part!” he said, flushing with embarrassment when the rest of the Party (and most of the adults) turned to glare at him.

“I’m not- That isn’t- I… you know what? Language. That’s all I’m gonna say.”

“You say ‘fuck’ all the time!” 

“Don’t push your luck Dustin. Let’s go cure a plague.”

“You mean kill  _ the _ Plague?” asked Nea with a frown.

“Damnit Nea! I’m trying to sound cool, ya know? Like- ugh, forget it, the shitheads have officially destroyed all my mojo.”

“We didn’t destroy it, we stole it!” Max interrupted with a shit-eating grin. Steve’s only response was to raise his middle finger at them. “Love you too!” Max shouted as Steve climbed in his car.

“Okay kids, one more time: what are the three rules?” asked Hopper as everyone climbed out of their associated vehicles on the roadside near where the Plague was last spotted.

“Stay by the cars, stay alert, don’t do anything that will send Steve into a nervous breakdown.” the Party dutifully replied, albeit with a certain degree of sighing and eye-rolling.

Soon everyone was assembled and ready to go searching the woods, except for the Party, who Steve would not even consider allowing to go, Steve, who was staying behind to watch the kids, Joe, who said he was much more suited to keeping a bunch of middle schoolers from getting hit by a car than hunting killers, and Kate, who insisted Steve needed a third pair of eyes and that she would be those eyes.

Joe sidled up to Kate as Steve got drawn into the Party’s shenanigans and everyone else set off into the woods. “So what’s the real reason you’re not going with them?”

Kate stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Nobody wants to go get barfed on. But you were adamant about this. Are you a closet germaphobe?”

“No! I mean, I don’t like being sick, but that’s not why. It just… brings back memories I’d rather not think about.”

Joe wasn’t satisfied, but he knew better than to push. “I see. So whatcha humming?”

“I’m not- wait, humming?” 

Then Steve let out a cry of pain as a hatchet slammed into his chest.

Taking down the Plague had honestly been underwhelming, Nancy thought, but honestly they deserved to catch a brake. She had seen the Plague kneeling in front of a small fire and just… shot her in the head. And then she died. No fancy tricks or elaborate traps or complicated ritual to destroy her. It was reassuring to know that not every killer could just shrug off bullets.

So Owens planted a remote flare nearby (the plan for when he located the source of the biohazard, he said, was to send up a flare immediately and then there would be an artillery strike in 15 minutes, but Owens didn’t trust Brenner not to fire immediately) and the group headed back to their cars, patting each other on the back for a job well done. And plus Jonathan was looking at her like she was an angel and damn if it didn’t feel nice.

Of course, that all came crashing down when they saw Steve laying against one of the cars as Kate and Joe desperately tried to stop the bleeding from his chest while the Huntress levitated above them, calling out confusedly. Nancy sighed. She just could  _ not _ catch a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anna has come to try and steal Steve's mom of the year trophy! Joke's on her though; kidnapped daughters are temporary, but Mama Steve is eternal.


	21. Beast of Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation with the Huntress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter one... I'm not sure how happy I am with it, but it's a scene that will be important later, and also hint more at my backstory for Owens (which I have all planned out and will definitely be in an epilogue) 
> 
> Also, FYI for this chapter: dialogue in brackets is in German.

“What the hell is going on here?” Hopper shouted as he surveyed the scene before him. The Huntress renewed her angry shouting when suddenly Owens went still and cocked his head at her.

“[You speak German?]” he said as the others turned to look at him (except for Claudette, who had pushed aside Joe to help Kate tend to Steve).

“[You speak the language of the slaughter-men?]” the Huntress replied warily.

“[Yes, but not well. Why are you here?]”

“[The bad thing in the sky told me to capture that]” she said, pointing at David “[but what I really want is a daughter.]”

“Why was she pointing at me?” asked David. 

Owens waved his question away before continuing in German. “[A daughter? I don’t understand.]”

The Huntress pointed to Max and El. “[I want a daughter. You have two. I could take one and you could have the other.]”

Owens blushed furiously. “[No, no, no, those are not my daughters! That is Max and that is El.]” The girls looked at each other worriedly as they heard their names come up. “[You cannot have either of them!]”

“[But… why not? I just want a little daughter so I can be a good mama.]”

Owens sat on the hood of a car and rubbed his temples. “Christ… okay so basically what she’s saying is she just wants to take one of the girls so she can be a mom. Also she calls German the language of the slaughter-men. I’m kicking this decision to the Survivors. What do we do with her?”

“Ask her if she will promise not to attack us if El puts her down. That’s a start at least.” suggested Min.

“[Will you attack us if we put you down?]” Owens asked.

“[No. I am not stupid. I do not want to die today.]”

“You can put her down El.” Owens said.

The Huntress landed crouched on the ground. Then she barked something while looking at the two girls and bolted into the forest.

“Should we follow her?” asked Kate uncertainly. There was an awkward pause before Doctor Owens realized everyone was looking to him for the answer.

“Nah. I don’t think she’s… overtly hostile. I don’t know. We need to rest anyways.”

“What was that she said before she left?” asked Will.

“I don’t know, it wasn’t German. Sounded Slavic, probably Russian.” replied Owens.

“Why do you speak German anyways?” Hopper asked.

“After the war- World War Two, that is- I worked with a lot of Germans. I can tell you more later if you’re interested.”

“So what now? Do we rest or do we push on?” asked Lucas.

“We push on.” Steve said as he shakily climbed to his feet. “Hag and Hillbilly. Let’s get ‘er done.”

“Well then. Quarry is closer. Let’s find that redneck!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Huntress will return! But for now get ready for Chapter 22: Enduring.
> 
> As always, tell me what you think, I super appreciate comments and love answering questions!


	22. Enduring

Everyone arrived at the quarry and piled out of the cars. “Okay, who’s on babysitting duty with me this time?” asked Steve.

“I think maybe we should all stay in one group this time.” Claudette suggested. “The Hillbilly is extremely mobile, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was even more so now that the killers aren’t limited.”

“Yeah, the whole Scooby-Doo ‘let’s split up gang!’ mentality hasn’t been working out so hot.” Nea agreed.

“Alright… but the kids stay in the middle of the group.” Steve reluctantly conceded.

The group set off and began trekking through the woods. At first everyone was quiet, an uneasy tension settling over the group. They jumped every time someone stepped on a dry stick and Hopper took a chunk out of a willow tree when a squirrel startled him into firing. But after a while people began to whisper amongst themselves, then laugh and chat. Dustin and Will had a lightsaber duel with sticks, and everybody had a laugh teasing Mike and El as they walked along hand in hand, happily ignoring the others’ taunts. 

They paused when they came to a particular spot at the edge of a cliff, looking down over the quarry. “Remember this place?” Mike asked softly and El and Dustin nodded.

“This is where- like, right here?” asked Lucas. Dustin nodded somberly.

“Wait, what happened here Wheeler?” Hopper asked as the kids exchanged meaningful looks with each other. “Or is it some soppy romantic milestone for you two? Nevermind, forget I-”

“It’s where El saved Mike for the first time.” Dustin said with a glare at Hopper. “Troy pulled a knife on me and told Mike to jump off the cliff or he’d cut my teeth out. He jumped and El caught him and then broke Troy’s arm.”

The group was silent for a moment. Steve patted the Doctor’s bat against his palm as a stormy look crossed his eyes. “That little shitbird is  _ dead _ starting  _ now _ .”

“El, sweetie, how come you never told me about this?” Hopper asked his daughter. 

She shrugged. “Forgot. It never came up. I thought you might be mad. And you don’t like Mike.”

“Sweetheart, no, I- I’m not mad. And I don’t dislike Mike personally, I just kind of have to because he’s my daughter’s boyfriend.”

“Why do you have to?” she asked innocently.

“I- well- boys his age- and girls- I- We’ll talk about this later, okay?” the chief sputtered as everyone stared at him.

“Chainsaw.” said Joe suddenly.

“What?” asked Nea before the Hillbilly burst out of the bushes with a roar and his chainsaw tore into Nea’s back, drawing an agonized scream from the Swede.

Everyone burst into screams of panic as Nea’s lifeless body fell to the dirt. There was a smattering of gunfire as Nancy opened up on the Hillbilly and Hopper fired the Redeemer. Nancy’s pistol bullets bounced off the Hillbilly’s head, but the Redeemer’s spear did hit one of the Hillbilly’s massive forearms. 

“Gotcha!” Hopper shouted before the Hillbilly casually yanked the harpoon out his arm. Hopper gave a yelp as the killer pulled the gun out of Hopper’s hands via the spear. The Hillbilly looped the chain around his uninjured arm a couple of times before swinging his arm and sending the gun flashing through the air like a mace. It hit Hopper’s skull with a sickening crack and the police officer slumped to the ground. Joyce and the Survivors were firing shot after shot from their various weapons, but the Hillbilly hardly seemed to notice.

“Take the kids an’ run!” David shouted as he drew the Oni’s katana. Steve stepped up next to him with the Doctor’s spiked metal stick ready to swing.

“Not a chance.” Philip said as he settled into a fighting stance with his sickle on David’s other side.

“GUYS I LOVE YOU BUT NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR A PISSING CONTEST!” Min shouted as she fired another shot at the Hillbilly.

“El! Do something!” Dustin squealed as the Hillbilly dodged a swing of David’s sword before following up with a blow from his cattle hammer that hit David’s head with a crunch

“I’m… trying! He’s… foggy…” she muttered as blood flowed from both her nostrils. She leaned back into Mike’s arms as Max stood over her with the Clown’s knife. The Hillbilly leaned away from a swipe from Steve even as Philip’s weapon opened up a new scrape on his bicep. As he bobbed and weaved, the Redeemer continued flailing around before smashing into Dustin’s ribs.

“Dustin!” shouted Steve as he ran over to the kid gasping and wheezing on the ground.

“I’m fine!” he wheezed. “Behind you!”

Steve whirled around to see the Hillbilly standing over him and Dustin, chainsaw revved up. Steve squeezed his eyes closed and prepared to feel the metal teeth biting into him one last time as he shoved Dustin out of the way. But the grinding agony never came and Steve opened his eyes to see the Hillbilly looking confused as the chainsaw stopped a scant few inches from Steve’s head, the spinning blades making a mess of his hair.

“That’s…” Steve turned to see El levitating a few inches off the ground, lower face drenched with blood. “My…” the chain of the Redeemer went taught as the gun rose a few feet in the air. “FRIEND!” El shouted as the gun went flying out over the quarry, dragging the Hillbilly with it. The killer let out a frightened cry as he dropped his hammer and chainsaw to clutch desperately at the chain before El released her telekinetic grip on the gun and the Hillbilly went plummeting into the waters below.

The healthy adults rushed over to the edge in time to see the splash as the killer slammed into the water. “Is he- nevermind.” Min said with a sigh as the Hillbilly resurfaced. “How the hell do we kill him?”

“I think… it may be a coincidence, but the only things that broke the skin where the Redeemer and my sickle. Perhaps he is only vulnerable to killer weapons?”

“I don’t think we need to get that fancy…” Joe muttered as he watched the Hillbilly thrash in the waters of the quarry.

“What do you mean?” asked Philip.

Joe shrugged. “Doesn’t look like the bastard can swim, does it?”

“So who gets the weapons?” Dustin asked as Steve held him.

“You… you dumb shit… you probably cracked a couple of ribs and your first question is about the weapons?”

“I want the sword. And Mike should get the hammer since he’s the paladin.”

Steve hugged Dustin closer and softly whispered “If I give you the sword and Mike the hammer do you promise you won’t die?”

“I promise.” Dustin said as he awkwardly patted Steve on the back.

“Okay. Good.” Steve said before handing Dustin the katana. “I shouldn’t have to say this but I will anyway: be careful with that thing. I don’t wanna save my little brother from a bunch of killers just to have him accidentally cut his own hand off.”

“Steve- did- what did you just call me?” Dustin asked as tears came to his eyes.

“I probably called you shithead, dude, come on.” Steve said with a watery smile before picking up the Hillbilly’s cattle hammer. “Wheeler!” he shouted to the boy who was still holding his girlfriend and gently wiping the blood from her face.

“What, Steve?” he asked irritatedly as Steve approached.

“Here.” the older boy said as he held out the hammer handle first.

“Wha- for me?” Mike gasped.

“Yeah for you. According Dustin a paladin is a shithead who uses hammers, and you’re this group’s paladin, so you take it. Careful, it’s heavy.” Steve said as Mike winced and nearly dropped the hammer once Steve let the full weight of it rest in Mike’s hands.

“Thanks Steve… I guess maybe Dustin was right about you after all.”

“My goodness Wheeler, was that a compliment? For little ol’ me?” Steve asked teasingly.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get used to it.” Mike said. His tone was an exasperated grumble, but he had a smile on his face nevertheless.

“Alright, this is gonna be our medical truck.” Claudette announced as she helped load Hopper’s unconscious body into the back of his truck alongside Steve and the Party. “If you get assigned to medical truck, you do not leave medical truck without an OK from me, Adam, or Quentin, got it?” Everyone nodded their assent. “Great! Hopper is obviously medical truck, the kids are medical truck, and El and Dustin are  _ double _ medical truck. Steve you’re probably medical truck too, I don’t care if you’ve got Second Wind you’ve been hit in the head a LOT these past few days.”

“Was it that obvious?” Steve grumbled.

“YES!” chorused the Party, as well as Min and Quentin. Claudette couldn’t quite make out what Steve muttered as he climbed into the passenger seat of the medical truck next to her, but she was pretty sure she heard the words ingrates, shitheads, and Wheeler come up more than once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we're in the home stretch! I've got a concrete chapter number! Although it might change. But yes, I'm planning on a total of 29 chapters, of which 3 will be epilogues. So the climax of the story is (again, tentatively) going to be chapter 26. Hopefully having a concrete plan will help me really crank out these last few chapters.
> 
> As always, please leave kudos or comments to make me get all smiley and warm! Until next time!


	23. The Third Seal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace walks to his death.

“This is the place?” Owens asked Adam as they pulled up outside the Willmont residence on the outskirts of Hawkins. Adam looked at the house. The walls were covered in symbols and pictograms, some done with mud, some done with paint, and some done with what Adam suspected was blood.

“This is definitely the place.”

“So how are we gonna approach this?” asked Kate as Owens and Adam climbed out of their car.

“I’m not sure… the Hag doesn’t seem like the strongest killer physically, but who knows what those runes do? And we’re low on firepower. David, Hopper, and Steve were probably our best fighters, and David’s dead and Hopper’s unconscious… I don’t think a frontal assault is a good idea.”

“Burn her out?” suggested Min.

“That might work, but-” Adam began when the door to the house opened and they saw the Hag standing there.

“SHIT!” shouted Min as she scrambled for her rifle.

“Don’t just stand there like a bunch of tasty delicious idiots! Come inside! Lisa has stories for you to eat!”

“Do I look stupid?” Shouted Min before firing her gun at Lisa. But there was a flash green light in front of the house and the bullet disappeared.

“‘Do I look stupid?’ No, you look very succulent, but Lisa promises she won’t eat you. Lisa is hungry but Lisa already has snacks inside, and they’ve already stopped twitching. You would twitch a lot, I think.”

“Why should we trust you?” called out Ace.

“Because Lisa will tell you how to stop MacMillan and his master if you come inside.”

“Who the hell is MacMillan?”

“Lisa will tells you if you come inside!” the Hag said before turning and going back into the house, but leaving the door open.

“This smells like a trap.” Joyce said.

“Oh it almost certainly is! Which is why only I’m going in there.” replied Ace. “Don’t try to argue with me on this. I’m a gambler, and a gambler knows when they have nothing to lose. Compared to the rest of you, I have nothing to lose. I’m old. No kids. No future. Any family other than you guys is a dimension away. And besides, if it is a trap, we all know Lady Luck would never leave me out to dry! And if it isn’t, then the Visconti charm could definitely come in handy.”

And with one last smile at his friends, Ace Visconti popped on his sunglasses and strode confidently into the Hag’s lair.

“Alright, I’m here, is there a specific spot I need to stand on or will your trap catch me here?” Ace called out as he stepped inside.

“No trick, no trap! Lisa promised not to eat you. Lisa keeps her promises. No sit and listen while Lisa talks!” the Hag said as the walked into the living room dragging a half eaten deer carcass behind her. Ace raised his eyebrows but sat down on the end of the sofa that didn’t have a large bloodstain on it.

“So what do you have to tell us?” Ace asked.

“So impatient!” Lisa grumbled as she tore a strip of flesh from the deer’s ribcage and put it into her mouth.

“My apologies- Lisa, was it? My apologies Lisa, I’m a man who likes to cut right to the chase, and time is kind of of the essence here.”

“Hmm, yes, Lisa understands.” the Hag said as she pried off a rib before cracking it open and slurping out the marrow. “Lisa understands lots of the things now. The runes taught her. They spoke to her. They spoke through her and from her. The runes, they used to be small things, yes? Psychologically as much as true magic. But the Master makes them stronger. The runes that didn’t do anything do, and the ones that did do so much more! And the Master doesn’t know all the runes can do. Or the Master doesn’t care. Doesn’t matter. What matters is the girl and the portal. The girl opened the gate, she can close the gate. Lock it tight. Lock it like Smithson. Throw away the key.”

“So wait, El needs to close the portal she made?” Ace asked. 

Lisa nodded as she took another bite of the deer. “Close the gate. MacMillan will try to stop you. Johnson too. They are cowards. We are all cowards. We were sheep eating lions. Yummy, yummy lions. But now you have your claws back. You can stop the shepard. Only two more sheep stand in your way. Maybe some will try to help you. Not all sheep are cowards. Some of us were never sheep. Some of us were woolly lions.”

“Okay, so close the gate, only two more killers stand in our way. Got it. Anything else you want to tell us?”

“You have more friends than you think. And different enemies. Lisa is not your enemy. Lisa will help you if you hold still.” she said as she speared the deer’s heart with a withered claw. She drew it out, covered in blood, and Ace managed to keep himself from shaking as she approached him. He felt her claw gently press against his forehead as she drew a pattern there with the blood. “There. Now you have triple lucky. Lucky from you, lucky from the Master, and lucky from me. Now go. Your little girl has work to do.”

“Alrighty, thank you for your hospitality, and your… gift. I’ve just got one more question: why are you helping us?”

The Hag looked down at the deer carcass for a moment. “Lisa is always hungry. The Master makes her hungry. There is a chain, the Master attached to Lisa. The chain makes her hungry. But now the Master is in the basement and Lisa is in the attic, and the gate. The gate is the stairs. Close the gate and the chain breaks. And Lisa stops being hungry. One way or another.”

“Wait, are you saying you might die when we close the gate?” Ace exclaimed. The Hag looked him in the eyes.

“Lisa is prepared for that possibility. Lisa knows Philip is too. Lisa hopes you are.”

Ace exhaled slowly. “I… I am. And for what it’s worth Lisa, I really hope closing the gate doesn’t kill you.”

The Hag nodded. “Lisa hopes so too. But the most important thing is stopping the Master, stopping the hungry. Compared to that, Lisa’s life is not so important. Lisa knows you understand.” She said with a meaningful look.

Ace gulped. “I… yes, I do understand that line of reasoning. Well thank you again Lisa. I promise we’ll bring you your peace.”

“One way or another.”

“Yes…” Ace sighed. “One way or another.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you probably all expected this, but we're gonna come full circle and end this where it all began: Hawkins National Laboratory. But before that, we've gotta check in with Laurie! So be ready for that in Chapter 24: Sole Survivor.
> 
> As always, I super appreciate any and all comments! As another fanfic writer put it, they're what tells me I'm not screaming into the void.


	24. Sole Survivor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laurie comes back to the ruins of the police station

“Fuck.” Laurie muttered under her breath as she arrived at what had once been the Hawkins police station. She guessed she had a couple of minutes before Michael caught up to her. She adjusted her grip on her crowbar as she waded through the rubble, and gasped as she felt something squish underfoot. Kicking away chunks of blackened concrete revealed a body, burnt and broken, with a pistol next to it. This was it then, Laurie thought as she grabbed the gun. Something had blown up the police station and taken everyone else with it. She was, once again, the last Survivor standing.

Laurie turned and wasn’t surprised to see Myers staring at her from across the street. “Here we are again. Just you and me. Apparently we’re in the mid-80s now, so I’ve been running from you for what, a decade?” Laurie began walking towards the bogeyman, who gave no indication he heard or understood her, simply watching her approach.

“You’ve wasted enough of my life. Or maybe I’ve wasted enough of yours.” Laurie said as she lifted her crowbar. “This is where it ends. This is where we decide. You’ll kill or I’ll survive, but it can’t be both. I don’t know if you had a hand in killing everyone else. But that doesn’t mean I have nothing left to fight for. It means I have nothing left to lose. So let’s do it. Let’s finish this.”

Finished psyching herself up, Laurie stepped forward and fired the revolver. Six loud cracks split the air, and the scent of gunpowder drifted into Laurie’s nose as six holes appeared in Michael’s jumpsuit. Shoving the empty pistol into the waistband of her jeans, Laurie took her turn watching Michael as he walked across the street, long legs eating up the distance between them. Then he attacked.

It was frightening just how fast he could be when he wanted to, Laurie thought. She barely managed to leap out of the way and turn a stab meant for her ribcage into a nick on her arm. She retaliated by swinging her crowbar into his hand, remembering how Jane had weakened Pyramid Head. But Myers completely ignored the blow, grabbing the middle of the crowbar and yanking it out of Laurie’s hands. She was pretty sure she saw imprints of his fingers on the metal as he flung it aside.

Myers swung at her again and Laurie managed to dodge without a scratch, but she was not so lucky with his next attack. She was off balance from dodging and was helpless when Myers’ knife sliced into the palm of her hand. He followed through with what must have been nearly his entire bodyweight, dragging her to the ground as the knife slid into the asphalt of the road with a gritty crunch. Laurie screamed as he stood up, seemingly admiring his handiwork.

“Well, that’s it huh?” she said with a groan. “Let’s get this over with then. At least you’re not one to drag it out.”

She didn’t try to move away or continue fighting when Myers pulled his knife out of her hand, only letting out another grunt of pain. She didn’t try to struggle when Myers grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up, simply letting her arms dangle limply. He readied his knife for the killing stab through the torso. Then Laurie took her shot.

Channeling all her stubborn determination to avenge her friends, to keep going, to  _ survive _ , Laurie swung her foot into Michael’s solar plexus as hard as she could while swinging her hands up to knock his knife away.

It worked. Myers let her go with a groan as he stumbled backwards. There was a clatter as the knife fell to the ground. Laurie crouched down to pick it up as she landed, and quickly plunged it into Michael’s thigh. The knife was now covered in two people’s blood as she pulled it out. Recovering, Myers made a lunge to grab the knife back, but Laurie met him head on, charging forward and stabbing him just under the collarbone before kicking him again as she pulled the knife out of his wound.

He wasn’t used to being on the defensive, Laurie realized as a lightning-fast slash opened a shallow cut across the length of his stomach. She continued to dart in and stab or slash before dancing back out of the way of his clumsy punches and grabs. This back and forth might have lasted for hours or for minutes. Laurie lost track of time as she focused every ounce of strength she had on her opponent. Stab, dodge, slash, bob, weave, fight, survive. 

He was losing, she could tell. Getting slower, more desperate. She could hear his breathing, heavy and ragged behind his mask. Eventually, after Laurie followed up a stab to the gut with a kick in the groin, Myers fell down to his knees. Laurie pressed her advantage, the knife sinking into her enemy over and over, severing muscle, slipping between ribs, penetrating organs. She kept stabbing, even when Myers fell face first onto the street.

She wasn’t sure when he died. She just noticed after a while that he stopped shuddering underneath her. The sound of his breathing went from heavy to rattling to nothing. Blood trickled out from under his mask, even though she hadn’t stabbed him there.

It was done. Laurie stood up. The front of her shirt was drenched with blood, probably ruined for good. There was something wet, warm, and sticky on her face. She probably looked awful. But she was alive. She had survived.

She was startled when she heard a horn honk behind her. She turned to see Steve leaning out from the bed of Hopper’s truck, with more cars lined up behind him.

“Need a lift?” he asked with that damn smirk of him. She rolled her eyes as Steve helped her into the back of the pickup.

“You’re alive?” she whispered. 

“‘Course I am! Couldn’t leave these shitheads to fend for themselves, could I?” he said, gesturing at the six kids with him in the back of the pickup, who were looking at Laurie with a mixture of awe and horror. “Besides, somebody has to shout I TOLD Y’ALL NOT TO DOUBT LAURIE ASSKICKING STRODE because we all know you’re too humble to do it yourself.”

Laurie felt a blush tint her cheeks. “Shut up and bandage my hand, dumbass.”

“Do mine ears deceive me? Hath a woman asked Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington to hold her hand?” Dustin exclaimed in mock surprise.

“I said bandage, not hold. And Steve, you never mentioned people called you The Hair.” Laurie said with a smirk of her own.

“HE DIDN’T?” exclaimed the Party at the same time Steve mumbled “I don’t wanna talk about it…” while fishing out the gauze.

“Steve I am going to tease you so much about this later. But right now I need an explanation of what happened while I was running Myers around.” Laurie said as Steve began gently bandaging her hand.

“Yeah okay, the brats can tell you while I work on this. I just hope the road to the lab doesn’t have too many potholes.”

“The lab?” asked Laurie.

“Well you see…” began Mike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter down! Next time, we return to the lab, and some of the things I've been setting up start paying off! If I haven't made you go "oh shit", "whaaaaaat", and "yesssss" in the next chapter, I have failed.


	25. Thrilling Tremors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone converges at the lab.

“So listen, Philip. I left out one little detail that Lisa mentioned to me.” Ace said as he and Philip drove towards the lab. “She said closing the portal might kill her and you.”

“Yes… I am aware of that possibility. It doesn’t change what needs to be done. This town, this whole dimension, will never be safe as long as that portal is open. I am more than prepared to risk one or two murderers to protect the world from the Entity.” Philip replied.

“Philip. I don’t know what you did before you got taken, but what you were forced to do to us in the Realms doesn’t define you. We’ve forgiven you. We trust you. You’re not worthless, okay?” Ace said as he pulled up next to the gates of the lab.

“Thank you, that- What are the children yelling about?” Philip said, turning to look at the Party, who were all pointing agitatedly at a group of white vans in the laboratory parking lot that had “Hawkins Power and Light” stamped on the side in neat blue letters.

“What the hell Owens?” yelled Lucas as the doctor got out of the car he was riding in with Kate.

“What are you- oh.” Owens said as he spotted the vans. “Typical Marty. Go in yourself without notifying your second in command. Although in this case he may rightly suspect that I’m working against his goals.”

“Papa is in there?” whispered El with fear in her voice, causing Mike to hold her tighter.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. He was always the type to love getting his hands dirty.” Owens replied.

“So what’s the game plan?” asked Steve.

“Steve, this isn’t one of your-” began Mike.

“It’s a figure of speech dude! Believe it or not, my entire vocabulary isn’t based around ‘sports-ball’.”

“Well, we’ve got an unknown number of hostile federal agents in there along with probably one or two killers. Almost certainly the Trapper. He’s a defensive one, and must have known we would come back to close the portal eventually.” mused Adam. 

In the back of his truck, Hopper sat up with a groan. “What hap- why are we at the lab?”

“We gotta close a gate again. I’ll fill you in on the rest later.” Joyce said. “But a killer or two and Brenner and his goons are in there.”

“Alright. Fuck. Here’s the plan: kids and Steve wait out here while the rest of us go in and clear the building. We radio for El once we’ve secured a path to the portal.”

“I’ll stay out here with the kids. Like I said, fighting’s not my strong suit.” Joe volunteered.

“I can help! I don’t need to wait here.” El said.

“El, I don’t want you in any more danger than you have to be, and I think you’re going to need all the strength you have to close that portal.” Hopper told his daughter. “Now if that’s all cleared up, let’s go.”

The ‘forward team’ walked into the entryway of Hawkins National Laboratory and gasped. There were four corpses there. Three were teenagers, two girls and a boy, wrapped in chains and suspended over the front desk by metal hooks attached to the ceiling and penetrating their shoulders. Each had a sign around their neck with a single word on it, written in what was almost certainly blood. Together, the signs read “DO NOT FAIL”.

The fourth body was laying in the doorway that led to the rest of the lab. It was dressed in riot gear and had a combat shotgun laying next to it. The head was crushed underneath a massive slab of concrete.

“Everyone be careful. It doesn’t look like it’s just bear traps we need to watch out for.” Claudette said as she stepped over the dead agent. Everyone followed, Joyce gulping as she glanced down at the spot where Bob had died only a few months before.

They came across more bodies. One speared by a steel beam that had popped through a wall. One with their foot in a bear trap and a gash in their throat. An unknown number in a corridor that hadn’t been collapsed the last time any of them were there. And a corridor filled with blood and bodies that didn’t look like there was a trap, just a fight. The walls were pockmarked with bullet holes and the dead agents had been killed with brutal efficiency. Many were laying on the ground with deep gashes in their necks or heads. One had been entirely decapitated, a few had severed limbs, and one looked like something had squeezed their skull until it shattered. 

They came across one more dead agent, fallen prey to another bear trap before they reached the portal room. Inside were two agents, Martin Brenner, and the Trapper.

Outside, things were much more relaxed. The boys were arguing about Star Wars, with Max rolling her eyes and throwing in sarcastic comments and El playing the role of confused bystander. Steve was laying on the hood of Hopper’s truck with his eyes closed and a small smile on his face as he listened to the friendly bickering of the kids.

He wasn’t going to get a better opportunity, Ghostface thought as he slipped a small bottle and a handkerchief out of his pocket before applying a splash of liquid from the former to the latter. He was surprised how trusting they were. They’d been a little suspicious at first, sure, but eventually they bought the amnesia bullshit hook, line and sinker. And now he was in the perfect position to strike. The magic girl was distracted, and her only protector was about to be falling into a chemically induced slumber (Sure, he could kill Harrington, but he might make too much noise). All he had to do was stab the kid, and waltz back through the portal with his head held high.

It was kind of funny how the Doctor had ended up helping him, Ghostface thought with a smile as he gently laid the drug-soaked fabric over the lower half of Steve’s face. He approached the children with his knife behind his back. All too easy, he thought as he slipped his knife into El’s back with a sadistic smirk.

He pulled the knife out. A humming he hadn’t realized he’d been hearing stopped. The kids screamed. Ghostface laughed. Another voice yelled something that sounded like “stee”. He heard a whirling noise. He turned just in time to see a hatchet with a shimmering head flying directly towards his face.

“HOLY SHIT!” Dustin shrieked as a hatchet slammed into Joe’s head. He was pretty sure it wasn’t physically possible for the axe to nearly cleave the guy’s skull in two the way it did, but Dustin decided to think about that later as El slumped into Mike’s arms.

He ran to get Steve, brushing the cloth off his face, but the older boy wouldn’t wake. Dustin cursed and turned to ask his friends for advice and saw the Huntress barreling out of the woods. Her greataxe was slung across her back and she was pulling things from a pouch at her waist as she approached.

“Stay back!” cried Mike as he raised the Hillbilly’s hammer with shaking hands, either from the weight of the weapon, from fear, or a little of both. The Huntress barely spared him a glance as she shoved him aside before crouching down at El’s side.

“Privacy!” Lucas shouted, averting his eyes along with the other boys as the Huntress roughly tore El’s shirt off before tending her wound. 

“Guys we’ve got more important problems! Besides, she’s got a bra.” Max said as she crouched down on El’s other side to watch the Huntress work.

Lucas still wasn’t comfortable with seeing his friend with her shirt off, so he turned to examine Ghostface’s body instead. That was much less awkward.

It was, however, kidna gross. Ghostface’s head was unrecognizable, it looked more like he’d been shot by a tank than hit with a hatchet. Brain, blood, mucus, and shards of bone made a sickening pool around the body. Lucas saw with curiosity the blood soaked hatchet laying on the ground next to the corpse. He picked it up and curiously examined the head. The metal was like nothing he’d seen or heard of. It was shiny, almost to the point of glowing, and had a pale orange tint to it. Lucas hesitantly touched the side of the blade before dropping it with a yelp. It felt blisteringly cold.

The Huntress looked up and said what Lucas heard as “Stee. Nebezpechnee.” before going back to helping El. Lucas decided not to touch the hatchet again.

Well, fuck, Lucas thought. He just hoped the group inside the lab was faring better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in the endgame now folks! Let's just hope the author isn't running NOED ;)
> 
> Say that I was though... say only one character could survive... who would you want me to give hatch to?
> 
> (Don't worry I'm probably not actually going to kill all but one. But if Chapter 26 ends up being titled No One Escapes Death... then just consider that your warning.)


	26. Huntress' Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End.

“Wonderful timing.” Said the Trapper as he watched the Survivors and their friends filter into the room.

“I see my backup has arrived.” Brenner said, coolly surveying the scene. “You’re quite outnumbered now, so if you’ll just put down your weapon-”

“I don’t care about your damn backup.” the Trapper said at the same time Owens shouted “I’m not your damn backup!”

The Trapper chuckled softly as he advanced towards Brenner. The two agents standing next to him opened fire, but all their shotguns did was shred the Trapper’s overalls as the bullets bounced off his skin. The hand holding the cleaver lashed out and one agent’s head fell off his body in a spray of blood and the Trapper’s other hand grabbed the second agent by the back of the head before slamming his face into the wall. He did this a few more times, turning the man’s head into pulp as Brenner backed away.

“Stay back!” shouted Brenner as he brandished a pistol at the Trapper. A low chuckle came from beneath the grinning visage of the killer’s mask.

“You’re pretty dumb for an egghead.” the Trapper said as he grabbed brenner by the lapels of his suit. “Give me exactly one reason the man you just saw shrug off shotgun blasts should be afraid of your dinky little pistol, and I won’t rip your arms out of their sockets.”

“Because I’m aiming for the eye at point blank range.” Brenner said as he placed the gun against the Trapper’s mask.

“Yeah, like he didn’t think of that. Still, that’s a reason, even if it’s a bad one. I’m a man of my word. I won’t kill you. Not right now, anyways.” the Trapper said before he threw Brenner through the portal. “Now what do you all want?” the Trapper asked, turning towards the new arrivals.

“We’re here to close the portal. Get out of our way or die.” Laurie said as she brandished her brother’s knife.

“Hmm, a killer’s weapon. Not iridescent, but still, not bad.” the Trapper said. “But I notice there’s a lot fewer of you now. So let me tell you your options. You either give me Dwight Fairfield and Meg Thomas and let me take them back, and I won’t stand in your way when you try to close the portal. Or don’t, and I’ll take them from you myself, and I won’t be merciful to whoever gets in my way.”

“They’re not here!” Claudette called out. “Dwight died and Meg is in the hospital.”

The Trapper was quiet for a moment. “Do you know what he’ll do to me if I go back empty-handed? What he made me do to those Legion punks will seem like a day in paradise by comparison. I can’t go back without a Survivor. I hope you understand.” he said as he lifted his cleaver.

“Wait! You’re not empty-handed!” shouted Owens as the Trapper advanced on them. “You just threw Brenner through the portal! You can keep him! And he actually deserves what you’d put him through.”

The Trapper paused, then sighed. “I won’t apologize for what I was forced to do. I was told you deserved it, and I knew what would happen if I questioned him.” He took off his mask, revealing a haggard face that might have once been handsome but now was marred with scars and pieces of metal. “But I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Just this once, I’ll walk away and leave you to your devices. I would ask you to pray my punishment is not too severe, but I don’t know which would be more naive, believing you would have any sympathy for me or believing prayers would do anything.”

He stood up, mask in one hand and cleaver in the other, and walked through the portal. There was a moment of surprised silence before Hopper said. “Guess I’ll radio for El.”

The boys were awkwardly hovering around Steve and trying to look at anything except the gruesome corpse on the ground or their friend’s bra. So it was a welcome distraction when the radio crackled to life and they heard Hopper’s voice call out that they were ready for El.

“Who wants to tell him?” Mike asked before realizing the other three were looking at him expectantly. “Son of bitch…” Mike muttered, shooting his friends a glare as he picked up the radio. “Hey chief, there’s been, uh, a bit of a problem out here.”

“Mike? Jesus kid, put Steve on.”

“Yeah, see that’s part of the problem, Steve’s unconscious right now.”

A long, staticky sigh came through the radio. “What happened?” Hopper asked in a voice that clearly indicated he was at the limits of his stress.

“We’re not quite sure but we think Ghostface was doing a long con and faking amnesia; he drugged Steve and stabbed El, and then-”

“HOLY FUCK WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL ME IMMEDIATELY? IS SHE OKAY?” Hopper shouted through the radio at a volume the boys didn’t know the device was capable of.

“Yesyesyes, she’s okay, the Huntress came out of the woods as soon as El got hurt, she killed Ghostface and she and Max are taking care of El. I just don’t think she’s in any state to close the gate.”

“Wassgooinon? Oh my head…” Steve said as he sat up with a groan.

“Sir, Steve just woke up, do you want me to put him on?” Mike asked (hoping desperately for a yes).

“No, just get him caught up, we’re on our way out now.” Hopper said before turning his radio off. Mike let out a sigh of relief he didn’t realize he was holding.

“Okay Steve, so basically, while you were napping…” Mike began.

“I can do it. I can close it.” El said softly as Hopper loaded her into his truck.

“Absolutely not. You need to heal honey.” the chief responded.

“No. I have to. She’s coming. I saw her. She’s coming back.”

“Shh, it’s okay sweetie, just rest.” Hopper said in the closest thing he had to a soothing tone.

“No. I have to. Now. She’s coming back, on its side. I have to close it now. I saw her. She will kill us.”

“I think we should trust the kid on this one, Chiefo. The sooner we get that closed, the better.” Owens said.

Hopper sighed as he looked down at the injured girl in his arms. “Do you promise this is what we need to do, kiddo?”

“Promise.” El replied softly.

Hopper sighed again, knowing how seriously that girl took promises. “Alright guys. Back to the lab.” he said as he began carrying his daughter back to the building where she had been kept for so long.

It was an odd procession going back into the lab. Philip and Owens led the way back to the portal room. The kids and the Huntress made a protective circle around Hopper as he carried El. Soon they were filling up the deprivation tank again. Laurie followed behind them, holding the knife in one hand and Steve’s hand in the other.

“This Brenner person… are you sure you’re okay with leaving him in the Realms?” Philip asked Owens as they watched the tank fill.

Owens snorted. “More than okay. If anyone deserves to get interdimensionally Cask of Amontillado-ed, it’s Brenner.”

Philip nodded and watched as Jonathan shut off the pump and El climbed back into the tank. The Huntress was standing right next to her, humming her lullaby as El descended. Philip turned to look at the orange portal with the uncanny black rim. Everyone did. They might have been watching for seconds or for hours when the first crack appeared in the edge of the portal. A disgusting orange liquid oozed out of it. Another crack appeared then, higher up. Then a third. Then a fourth. Then, suddenly, the portal crumpled in on itself and was gone. It was strange, Philip had been expecting some horrible screech or a crack of thunder, but the closing was silent. One moment there was a hole in reality, the next there wasn’t.

They pulled El up and everyone was relieved to see El was breathing, despite the blood trickling from her nose.

“Ist es fertig?” the Huntress asked, looking at Owens.

“Yes.” Owens nodded. “It’s over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Es ist fertig!
> 
> Except not quite. I bumped the number of epilogues up to 4. The first two are going to wrap up some loose ends with Leatherface, Cheryl, and Brenner. The third is going to cover the backstory I made for Owens and Brenner, and the fourth is going to give Laurie and Steve the happy ending they deserve.


	27. Epilogue I: No One Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one who got away.

“You know, something just occurred to me.” Ace said as he walked out of the lab.

“What’s that?” Adam asked.

“Lisa said there were only two killers left standing in our way. We assumed it was the Trapper and Leatherface. But it was actually the Trapper and Ghostface. So where’s the knockoff Hillbilly?”

“I’m telling you, the Hillbilly is a knockoff Leatherface, not the other way around!” interjected Min.

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Adam said. “Owens said this place is gonna be crawling with feds for at least a month while they get everything straightened out. Knowing how smart Leatherface is, he’ll probably try to chainsaw a tank and get filled with lead in the blink of an eye.”

“Yeah, probably!” Ace laughed “Here’s hoping none of us ever have to see him again!”

Hopper pulled his truck up outside the cabin and climbed out. He glanced at El sleeping in the passenger seat and a smile flitted across his face. She was a handful, but he loved that kid. He was about to pick her up and carry her to bed when he glanced at the cabin and froze. The lights were on and the door was slightly ajar. He hadn’t left the lights on, and he  _ definitely _ hadn’t left the door unlocked. 

Drawing his pistol, Hopper slowly approached the cabin porch and peeked inside the windows. The lights were on, and things were strewn about. His intruder had left the fridge open, Hopper noted with a scowl. But he didn’t see anyone.

Slowly inching the door open, Hopper stepped inside, wary of any sort of ambush. Seeing nobody in the main living area, he gently pushed open the door to El’s room. Nothing. He moved on to check his room.

Sleeping on his bed was a fat man wearing a yellow rubber apron and a disgusting mask that seemed to be made of skin. Hopper pointed his pistol at Leatherface’s head. He was probably gonna have to buy new sheets after this, but the room was already a mess- Hopper noted angrily that Leatherface had swept everything off his bedside table to place his chainsaw there, including a picture of him and Sarah that was now lying on the floor next to a broken lamp and various other odds and ends.

The cabin was already a mess, what’s a little blood and brain matter on top of everything else? Hopper thought as he squeezed the trigger a few times.

He closed the door to his room and was reloading his gun in the living room when El stumbled in. “I heard guns.” she said tiredly.

“Don’t worry about it honey, just get some rest.” Hopper said as he ushered her to her bed. “I’ll be sleeping on the sofa if you need anything.” El shot him a questioning look before flopping on her bed. Hopper smiled and took her shoes off before going back into the main room and going to the phone.

“Hey Doc. You can call off your manhunt for Leatherface. You’ll never believe where I found him…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One less loose end!


	28. Epilogue II: Repressed Alliance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, in the Realms...

MacMillan Estate, Brenner thought with a sigh as he crouched down and began to repair the nearest generator. He just hoped it wasn’t the Trapper again. That guy definitely seemed to be holding a grudge, which was completely unreasonable, in Brenner’s opinion. It’s not like Brenner was trespassing on his top secret government laboratory.

His heartbeat began to pound in his ears and he stealthily crawled over to hide behind a tree. He peeked out to see the killer damaging the generator he had been working on. She wasn’t one he had encountered before. At first glance she was basically human. She had blonde hair, short for a girl, along with a bloodstained white vest and a green skirt. But then he looked closer and would have shuddered if he was the type of man to feel fear. Her eyes were a solid, burning orange. Her teeth were unnaturally sharp. She had a spear with a shaft made from the same strange black material the edges of the second portal had been made of, and the tip of the spear was some metallic substance that shimmered a dull orange. And as she walked away from the generator she was not carried by her own legs, but by smoky black tendrils that protruded from her back.

As he watched her leave, a foreign thought placed itself in his mind, the same way he had learned the names of the MacMillan Estate and the Trapper. The Champion, her name was.

Brenner was not scared as the spear pierced his back. He’d quickly found out that in this dimension you don’t die for real, and pain was never really an obstacle for Brenner. It was unpleasant, and to be avoided or shifted onto underlings when possible, but sometimes pain was the sacrifice that had to be made for science. For the country.

But damn, that spear hurt. And she kept plunging it into his back, over and over. Dying on the hook was much preferable, he thought as he lost consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another short piece (I promise III and IV will be longer), I just wanted to confirm Brenner's fate and look at the consequences of Cheryl embracing her alliance.


	29. Epilogue III: Open Handed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owens tells his story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know that there's a backstory for Brenner and some of the other Numbers in the Stranger Things comics and books and stuff but I didn't even know that until I was planning out my backstory for Owens and Brenner. So I took their ages from the ST wiki and left the rest to my imagination. 
> 
> Trigger warning here: it gets dark. Brenner is a monster and the US government is not known for empathy.

“Alright, first things’s first.” Owens said as he sat down and looked around the Byers’ living room at his audience, which consisted of Hopper, Joyce, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Laurie, and Adam. “This is all incredibly secret. And not ‘I-Know-You’re-Recording-Me’ secret, if you tell anyone you are putting yourself, your family, and me in grave danger. I’m going to trust that none of you are recording this because I consider you all allies and friends and let’s face it, you probably saved the world to some degree.”

“Can we tell the kids? Leaving out any gory details of course.” asked Joyce.

“No.” said Owens immediately. “For one thing, I don’t trust kids to keep secrets like I trust you all. For another this whole thing is really messed up. They’re probably better off not knowing this. El, if you’re listening through the void, I can’t stop you, but I would ask that you don’t, or at least think very carefully before you share what I’m about to say with the others. So with all that out of the way, here’s the story of how Brenner and I got where we are today.

The first thing you need to understand about Martin Brenner is that he is extremely intelligent. I believe he consistently scored in the upper 190’s on IQ tests. I’m no dummy, but I can confidently say Brenner is a lot smarter than me. 

So that’s how we both ended up as freshman roommates at MIT despite him being seven years younger than me. We were both studying particle physics. Me, because science and my brain was my only way out of taking over my dad’s butcher shop in a hell-hole called New Jersey. Brenner, because that’s what he was interested in when he was twelve. We were at MIT in 1943 and so when military men started asking around for smart men to help beat the Nazis, we both volunteered. They were skeptical about taking on a child prodigy, but he was top of his class and this was a top-priority project. 

So that’s how Brenner and I started working under Dr. Oppenheimer on the Manhattan Project. To develop atomic weaponry.” Owens added at the confused look on Steve’s face.

“Now back at MIT Marty- he still went by Marty back then- he didn’t exactly have a lot of friends. Hardly surprising that nobody wanted to hang out with the 12 year old that acing all the tests they were struggling to pass. But I let Marty tag along with me, studied with him, that sort of thing. He was always quiet and perpetually serious, but I chalked that up to feeling out of his depth socially.

It was when we were working together on the Manhattan Project that I first realized Brenner’s silence and stoicism were more than just shyness. He approached his work with a ferocity and focus that he’d never displayed in school. He would go days without sleep. I hoped it was just… patriotism, or wanting to end the war as soon as possible. I hoped too much. I think it was a combination of nationalistic fervor and enjoying a challenge. Either way, I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say Brenner alone probably knocked about three months off the Manhattan Project. But there was a cost. 

You are all familiar with the Japanese internment camps, yes? Well-”

“What if we aren’t? Hypothetically speaking.” asked Steve, earning him an eye roll from Laurie.

Owens sighed. “Well, during World War 2, FDR and a bunch of other government bigwigs got it into their heads that Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast were actually spies for Imperial Japan or a massive Fifth Column or something. It all amounted to racist paranoia and wartime hysteria. Anyways, officially there were 10 camps where Japanese-Americans were relocated to. In reality, there was an 11th camp, in the Jornada del Muerto desert in New Mexico.”

“They didn’t!” gasped Adam.

Owens nodded gravely. “It was Brenner’s idea. He didn’t just want to know if the bomb would work. He wanted to know how it would affect people and buildings. That’s the first massive secret I’m telling you today: the Trinity nuclear test wasn’t over an empty patch of desert, it was over thousands of American residents.”

The room was quiet for a moment as everyone reacted. Hopper held his head in his hands. Joyce looked like she was going to be sick. Jonathan and Nancy were holding each other tightly. Owens was pretty sure he saw a tear trickling down Laurie’s cheek, and Steve was just staring at Owens, slack jawed.

“And you knew about this?” asked Adam, his face and voice stony. “How does this make you any better than the Germans who knew about the Holocaust and did nothing?”

“I- I’ve asked myself that question a lot.” said Owens. “And I think the answer is that it doesn’t. I objected, of course, but when my superiors ignored me I went along with it. I don’t know what I could have done, but anything would have been better than nothing. Not doing anything more than complain to HR about the Trinity test is easily the biggest regret of my life, though it is far from my only one. If you hate me after this, I will not blame you in the slightest. I don’t think I deserve forgiveness. I certainly haven’t forgiven myself. You know the rest of the story of the Manhattan Project, I’m sure. Hiroshima. Nagasaki. 

But for a decade after the war, the Manhattan Project was still one of the most secret things in the US government, even aside from the dark truth of the Trinity test. Everyone was terrified of the USSR getting nukes. We figured it would happen eventually, but the longer we could delay it, the better, so everything about it was kept under wraps. So the US government had a bunch of scientists who knew highly valuable secrets they did not want to get out. The government’s solution was to create a new battery of tests and projects to keep us occupied and under their watch. This is the point at which I lost contact with Brenner for a while.

I was assigned to assisting with Operation Paperclip, a project that was basically trying to get all the useful German scientists out of Soviet hands. I knew some basic German, since the town I grew up in had a sizable population of German immigrants, so between that and my knowledge of science I ended up being one of the chumps who went and interviewed Paperclip candidates to see if they were the real deal or idiots who would waste our time prattling on about skull shapes. I interviewed a lot of them. Most were fairly average scientists, smart, but not worth the trouble of getting them to the US. I got a few Nazi propagandists- I’m pretty sure one of the guys I interviewed actually ended up at the Nuremberg Trials- but I ended up finding two real candidates for extraction.

The first was Heinrich Nord. He had ideas about mobile fortresses, tanks the size of skyscrapers, and planes that moved faster than sound. I’m pretty sure it was this last idea that got him a ticket to North America, last I heard of him he was involved in developing jet fighters.

The second was Wilhelm Mueller. He was a geneticist. A real one, not one of the Hitler’s racist quacks. He wanted to make vat-grown super soldiers. And after he was extracted, I was assigned to help him, as well as keep an eye on him. We were given free reign of the facilities at Pearl Lake National Laboratory in Pearl Lake, Montana.

We made remarkable discoveries. We grew soldiers in vats. It went well for about a decade. Then the soldiers escaped. The details aren’t important. Let it suffice to say that the laboratory burned down and the town was destroyed. I barely made it out alive. I believe that Mueller and our notes were all lost in the fire. If this is not what happened, I have not been made aware of it.

After the Pearl Lake fiasco, I was reassigned to work on Project Awakening, the newly rebranded MK Ultra. I was the second in command to my old roommate, Martin Brenner. 

This is when I truly started questioning my role in… everything, really. Hawkins reminded me too much of Pearl Lake. And where Mueller and I did our best to protect the civilians of Pearl Lake, we ultimately failed. And when I realized what exactly Brenner was playing with, I realized that it was only a matter of time until Brenner’s mixture of arrogance, cruelty, and curiosity spilled over into Hawkins.

I considered quitting, but didn’t for two reasons. The first was that after all I had seen, I seriously doubted I could quit without having an ‘accident’ soon after. The second was guilt. My inaction had gotten people killed at Jornada del Muerto. My actions had gotten people killed at Pearl Lake. I felt I owed it to the people whose deaths I had played a role in to try and stop Brenner’s madness. And I could do so much more impactfully as Brenner’s trusted second than I could from outside the system. 

I wish I had been able to do more. Most of what I ended up doing was delaying. Sending research teams on wild goose chases. Misplacing important files. The only time I feel like I truly made a difference was when I helped Subject Eight escape. I don’t think she knows I helped her. Last I heard of her, she was tracking down people involved in MK Ultra and Project Awakening and killing them. Some days I hope she comes for me. It would likely be a cleaner death than I deserve.

And after that, I think you all know the rest. Will disappeared, El escaped, Brenner narrowly survived his run-in with the Demogorgon.I took over the day to day operations of the lab and did what I could to undo the damage Brenner has done. Now Brenner is gone. I think once I shut down Project Awakening for good I’m going to retire. Maybe the CIA will kill me, maybe Subject Eight will. Maybe I’ll get a fat pension and live out these last few decades of my life sulking in misery and self hatred. None of Brenner’s test subjects could tell the future, and I definitely can’t.”

“So what did he say?” Max asked as El took off her blindfold. El was quiet for a few moments, thinking. 

“Pa- Brenner was a bad man. Owens was a bad man, but he... changed.”

“C’mon El, we want all the juicy details!” Dustin whined.

El looked at him. “It doesn’t matter.” she said. “He was bad but he’s stopped being bad.”

Dustin gave her a doubtful look. “People don’t just stop being bad.” he said.

“What about Steve?” asked Lucas. 

“Steve changed.” El agreed. “Owens changed. They’re good now. They’re friends. That’s what is important.” she said as she wiped away a trickle of blood from her nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That turned out kind of darker than I intended... I didn't really think about how much guilt Owens would be carrying around until I was writing. I promise the final epilogue will be a lot happier!!!


	30. Epilogue IV: Aftercare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new student at Hawkins Middle School is called down to Mr Harrington's office.

Helen looked down at the note on her desk when she walked into first period on Friday. It read “Ms Banks, please go to the guidance office during your lunch period.” and was signed with an illegible scrawl.

“What’s that?” Asked Jacquelyn as she sat down next to Helen.

Helen shrugged. “Guidance wants to see me. Must be some new student-first week thing.” she snorted.

“Ooh, you get to go see Mr Harrington? Ask him if it’s true he keeps a bat with nails in it in the trunk of his car!” Jacquelyn suggested.

“Ask him about how he gets his hair like that!” Molly added with a giggle as she took her place on Helen’s other side.

“I hear he knew Mr Wheeler when he was a kid, ask him if he has any embarrassing stories!” 

“I hear he punched a high schooler in the face for saying the N-word!”

“I heard-”

“Okay, okay, I get it, jeez. What’s the big deal with Mr Harrington?” Helen asked.

“He’s kind of a legend here. My dad says he used to be a huuuuuge douchebag but then something happened and he turned really nice all of a sudden.” Molly said.

“Are we talking about Mr Harrington? He’s so cool! I heard-” some kid whose name Helen didn’t know interjected. She rolled her eyes as the bell rang and the teacher quieted everyone down. Having science first period kinda sucked, but at least Mr Clarke made it bearable.

“You wanted to see me?” Helen asked as she hesitantly poked her head in the door of the guidance counselor’s office later that day.

“Yeah, come on in. Helen, right?” Mr Harrington said. Helen nodded and took a seat. “I hear you’re a smart kid so you probably know what you’re here for. If you just tell me where you hid the drugs-”

“WHAT!?!?” shrieked Helen.

Mr Harrington leaned back in his chair, laughing. “Nah, I’m just messing with you kid, this is just a sorta standard ‘New-Student-First-Week-Check-In’. It can be as long or as quick as you want. If you don’t have anything you wanna talk to me about, you are officially free to head back to lunch. If you do, feel free to tell me, or wait until later if you’ve got something you don’t wanna talk about yet. My door’s always open, except for when it’s not. But I try to keep it open as much as possible, it’s usually only closed when I’m having a private conversation with a student or when my wife swings by.”

“Your wife?” Helen asked.

“Oh yeah, I’m married to Coach Strode. Still don’t know how I got that lucky.”

Helen regarded him for a moment. “I can see why you have the reputation you do.” she said slowly.

Mr Harrington laughed. “Me? A reputation? Please, I don’t think I’ve had a reputation around Hawkins Middle School since I was your age.”

“No, you totally do!” Helen replied. “Everyone and their mother had a rumor or a story about you when they saw your note on my desk! The way they told it I had won the lottery by getting to see you.”

Helen was pretty sure she saw a mild blush on Mr Harrington’s cheeks. “Aww, shucks. Well now I’m curious, what did you hear about me?”

Helen laughed. He made it easy to laugh. He had a good way of talking to her. She appreciated how Mr Clarke and Mr Wheeler didn’t talk to her like she was an idiot the way some other teachers did, but Mr Harrington talked to her like she was an equal, or a friend, even.

“Well, Jacquelyn said you keep a bat with nails in it in your car. I also heard you know Mr Wheeler and you punched a high schooler for saying the N-word. And Molly said to ask about your hair.”

Mr Harrington laughed. “I  _ used _ to keep a nail-bat in my car, it got… lost… back in the 80’s. I do keep a replacement on hand though. I absolutely knew Mike- er, Mr Wheeler- when he was a kid and I am  _ so _ tempted to tell you about how many times I caught him making out with his girlfriend but I’m not sure you’d be able to respect him as a teacher after that. And as for punching bigots, well, you’re gonna have to get a little more specific than ‘racist high schooler’. I have no comment about the hair though. That’s one secret I’m taking to the grave. Well no, okay, I take that back, I told one person, and he told a few more and that’s another reason I’m not giving you dirt on Wheeler. Speaking of which, next time you see him, tell him he’s overdue for a noogie.”

“What, I’m just supposed to tell my English teacher he needs a noogie?” Helen asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Don’t worry, he’ll just swear at me and tell you to sit down.” Mr Harrington replied with a cocky grin.

They talked for the rest of the period, and Helen was surprised how enjoyable it was. Mr Harrington was weird, but in all the best ways. After slipping up once and letting out a “damn” they agreed that Helen didn’t need to tell anyone about Mr Harrington swearing and Mr Harrington didn’t need to raise a fuss if Helen swore.

Their conversation was interrupted by a bell ringing. “Shit, I never ate lunch!” Helen realized as she gathered her things.

“Who do you have next period? You can eat in here if you’re fast.” Mr Harrington said as he fished around for his pass booklet.

“Barnes.” Helen said with thinly veiled disgust. 

“Ugh, that guy was a dinosaur when I was here, how the hell is he still teaching?” Steve asked as he scribbled on a pass and handed it to her. “I gotta go, I volunteered to get beat up for Laurie- I mean, for Coach Strode’s self defense class. Just head to class when you’re done eating and don’t go snooping around on my computer, okay?” Mr Harrington said as he stood up and walked towards the door.

“Isn’t it like, against school policy to leave kids alone in a room?” Helen asked. 

“Like anyone here really cares about that. Just don’t start a fire or plant drugs in my office, yeah?” he said before walking towards the gym.

Mr Harrington was definitely cool, Helen thought as she munched on her sandwich in his office. Her eyes were drawn to the pictures on his desk. Most of them were of him and Coach Strode or twin baby boys (David and Dwight, according to the names on their little baby-shirts in one picture). But one in the back caught her eye, and she picked it up to examine it.

It was a large group. She could see a younger Mr Harrington winking at the camera, his hair apparently unchanged from when the picture was taken. One hand was around the shoulders of who Helen assumed was a younger Coach Strode (covered in blood, Helen noted with surprise, and holding a bloody kitchen knife) and gripping some sort of spiky metal stick. His other hand was fist bumping a kid who looked Helen’s age, with a gap-toothed grin and curly hair. Clustered near Mr Harrington and the curly haired boy were a few other kids. A small boy with a bowl-cut, a redhead waving to the camera with a bloody knife in her hand while kissing an African-American boy on the cheek. And- HOLY SHIT WAS THAT MR WHEELER? Yeah, she was pretty sure that was a pre-teen Mr Wheeler, grinning proudly and holding a hammer aloft. Standing behind the kids was another girl Mr Harrington’s age who looked a lot like Mr Wheeler- maybe his older sister? There was also a short woman grinning at the camera with a hand on bowl-cut-kid’s shoulder. There were more people in the back row. An Asian girl holding a rifle. A huge man with a sheriff’s hat and an undershirt holding a sleeping girl wrapped in what she assumed was his jacket. There was a very tall man who looked like he had some skin condition or deformity- parts of his face looked more like tree bark than skin. There was latino man in a baseball cap and sunglasses pointing finger guns at the camera with a cheesy smile. A handsome black man in a bloody white trench coat. A smiling teen waving a pistol in the air excitedly. A beautiful brunette with a dazzling smile. A petite black woman gesturing to a woman standing off to the side, wearing a bunny mask and carrying a huge axe. An older looking man in a lab coat. At the top of picture, in black marker, were the words “It’s over now -J”.

“Hey Helen, forgot my- aw, I see you found my pictures of the twins. Cute, huh?” Mr Harrington said, walking back into the room and startling Helen into dropping the picture to the floor.

“SHIT! I’m so sorry Mr Harrington, I wasn’t-” began Helen before Mr Harrington cut her off.

“It’s fine kid, accidents- oh, guess you weren’t looking at the twins, huh?” he said quietly as he picked the photo up off the floor.

“I’m really, really sorry, I was just eating, and-”

“Kid, I told you, it’s fine. It’s just a picture frame. No big deal. We can talk about it later if you really want. You should probably get going though, Barnes’ equations aren’t going to solve themselves. Just make sure you don’t step on any broken glass.”

Helen nodded as she shuffled towards the door. “Oh and kid?” Helen froze, sure that Mr Harrington had changed his mind and was gonna give her detention for snooping or breaking his stuff. “Don’t forget, my door is always open except when it isn’t. Tell your friends that too, they shouldn’t have to ask their questions through you.” he said with a small smile.

“Oh- okay.” Helen said, surprised she wasn’t in trouble. “I’ll- I’ll see you later then.”

“See you around kid.” Mr Harrington said as he began sweeping up broken glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I have officially completed my first multi-chapter fanfic! I'm honestly kinda shocked I did. 
> 
> If you liked this fic, and want to read something similar, but waaaaay longer and waaaaay better, search up In Living Memory by Ziracona. The closest thing I have to criticism of it is that since it was planned out in 2019 (remember? The Before Times?) it only has Dbd characters up through Ghostface. The only thing that could have made In Living Memory better was if it had Steve.
> 
> If you just want more of my Stanger Things stuff, then fear not! I've got a couple (much lighter) ideas I'm itching to write: one is Steve and Kali meeting in college and falling in love, the other is a modern day AU following El Hopper, a transgender girl who just moved to Hawkins and is falling for this boy named Mike. If either of those are something you'd particularly like to see, lemme know!
> 
> Finally, please let me know what you thought of my story! Hearing from readers is amazing!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked this! Please please PLEASE leave comments. They are why I write; I always love hearing your feedback, reactions, and requests. Off to write Chapter 2!
> 
> Oh also, the title is kind of a placeholder right now, so if you think you have a better one let me know!!!


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